Nightweaver
by Ubiytsa
Summary: A good-natured thief is tired of being pushed around and being seen as weak, so he decides to take on the Titans. But can he follow through with everything he's planned in order to get them to accept him? Will his arrival upset their world in unforeseen ways? Who will survive, and who will die? Going to do a mailbag on the next chapter.
1. Chapter 1 Something to Prove

Nightweaver leapt from his perch atop a billboard, nimbly landing on top of a two story building. It was night in Jump, and he planned to use it to his advantage; Weaver wasn't a very opportunistic thief, and that was typically as far as he got to taking advantage of anything.  
He only stole because he needed to. He took only a little more than he needed, so that he could get some new gear now and then, but he tried to be fair and remember that the people he was stealing stuff from needed money as much as he did.  
His dark red hood was covering the top half of his face; bandages covered from his nose down. He hadn't made enough money to get a real mask.  
As he climbed up to a taller three story building, he thought inward, as he often did.  
He felt horrible.  
He regretted what he had to do, but his only other real choice was to be a hero. The Titans never let him join, even though he had offered several times. It was always some excuse or another. Until they recruited Terra, it had always been that they had no rooms. After, they said it was because of his criminal past. Eventually he'd gotten to the bottom of it.  
They didn't think he was powerful because he never tried to hurt anybody.  
They mistook his kindness for weakness.  
Weaver had spent the last two months modifying his gear to counter the Titans. His gloves and wrist blasters were custom made; he had automatically loading taser guns in his bottom compartment, and twin grappling hooks in the top. His boots had jet boosters, effectively letting him fly. However, neither of these were going to beat them.  
He'd spent that time gathering materials for and creating his own kind of bombs. Net bombs to stop Robin; the Boy Wonder would have to cut his way out of three layers of fishnet. EMP grenades for Cyborg; they had been the tricky ones to make. His EMP would fry Cyborg's systems, leaving him disabled until he got a charge. Fast hardening foam grenades would stop Starfire easily, at least for a few seconds. He used standard flashbangs for Beast Boy; the majority of the animals he turned into had extremely good eyesight, and he planned to exploit it.  
He had nothing to stop Raven with, he knew. He hoped he could use his cloak, capable of limited blending capabilities, to avoid her. His dark red hoodie and armored leggings, stolen from the Dark Knight himself, let him blend into darkness well.  
His aim had never been to injure anybody, especially not kill. He'd only killed four people in his entire life, and three of them were entirely accidental.  
Now, though, he might have to play a little more roughly. He planned on attracting the Titan's attention and then proving himself to them. Maybe then they would accept him. And if not, then he'd try again and again until they did.  
He fiddled with a pane of glass and slipped it out of place, slinking into the museum. He wasn't stealing any jewels; he didn't need THAT much money. A statue or two, maybe. Small things. Artifacts. Small things that he could stow in his satchel without breaking.  
Dropping down in front of two guards, he swiped one's leg from under him and punched the other in his throat. The man fell over, trying to breath.  
"Hit the alarm. Call the Titans," he said as he walked away, smashing through several display cases and taking a couple of small artifacts. He heard the alarm go off, and hid as guards flooded the room.  
"Who did this?"  
"Don't... Don't know. Some kid. Never seen him before." Nightweaver's face flushed.  
I've robbed this museum four times before. Either he's new or I haven't exactly left an impression on anybody. He jumped up from cover, latching onto a lighting fixture with one hand and throwing a flashbang with the other. As it went off, he covered his eyes, then dropped down into the crowd. Ten guards surrounded him, and he dispatched each of them easily, disarming them and knocking them out, except for the one who had initially hit the alarm.  
"I said. Call. The. Titans." The man pulled his radio out and dialled in a code.  
"Control... We need the Titans..."

Ten minutes later, the Titans had assembled and were in the museum.  
"Come out! We know you're here!" Robin yelled. When he didn't respond, he commanded them to split up. Cyborg and Beast Boy teamed up, and Robin and Starfire stuck together. As per usual, Raven was alone. He decided to take the robot and the mutant first.  
He followed them, waiting until they hit a dead end. Then, he shot up from behind a display case and threw a flashbang and EMP simultaneously. He didn't need to follow up on Cyborg, who was basically wrecked. He did, however, need to finish off BB. He put him in a headlock; the changeling had been a dog when he was blinded, and still was. He transformed into an elephant, grabbing him with his trunk and flinging Weaver into a dark corner. He transformed back.  
"Dude! Not cool! You can't just disappear like that!"  
"Fine." Nightweaver shot his grappling hooks at him, grabbing him by the shoulders and yanking him forwards. They were eye to eye for a moment.  
"You."  
"Me." He tased him with two tasers, shocking him into unconsciousness.  
He tied Beast Boy up and left Cyborg stuck against a wall, unable to do much of anything.  
"We're gonna get you, punk."  
"I don't want to fight. You just won't let me in." He walked away, moving towards the Boy Wonder and his alien girlfriend.  
They weren't hard to find. Robin wouldn't shut up. He just kept yelling for him to come out.  
He threw two net bombs at him, encasing him in the wire. He threw another grenade, this time foam, and encased him in it. Starfire shot at him with starbolts, which he dodged easily. He jumped off of a display in the wall and grabbed her legs, slingshotting himself using her knees and came up above her, hanging from the ceiling. He hit her with a foam grenade and dropped to the ground, smirking under his bandages.

Twenty minutes later, he found Raven, sitting in the lotus position. She looked like she was meditating. Emotions swirled inside of him. Fear, of her herself and of what she would say. Admiration, too. He had long been a fan of her and her overall demeanor. He hadn't tried to counter her directly because he knew she was by far the most powerful of all of them. But most of all, he felt strongly for her. It might have just been some kind of juvenile infatuation, but he still had feelings for her and refused to attack her.  
"Raven."  
"Nightweaver."  
"You actually remembered my name?"  
"Who would I be if I forgot?"  
"You know why I'm doing this."  
"I do. And the answer's the same. You just aren't strong enough."  
"Are you blind? I just took out your entire team single handedly." She cocked an eyebrow, her lids still covering her eyes.  
"I hadn't realized. But either way, it isn't my call to make. And you're wanted for four counts of murder and dozens of thefts."  
"Then let me be with the Titans and you can call it community service."  
"You know Robin would never go for it."  
"Tell me the truth. Do you want me in the team?"  
"Before tonight, no. Right now, yes. You're what we need; a good, focused, innovative stealth based hero. But Robin would never let you, and neither would the others."  
"Why, exactly?"  
"I can feel it coming off of you. I know you're sincere."  
"What?"  
"I know what you're trying to hide from me." His cheeks flushed under his mask.  
"And now you're embarrassed. It's alright. I..."  
"TITANS! Go!" Robin yelled, his arm still wrapped in web. Starfire was still shaking the foam off of her and Beast Boy was dazed.  
"I'll talk to you later, Rae." She snapped her eyes open and stared into his indigo eyes.  
"How are your.. eyes...?"  
"I'll explain later." He shot a grappling hook past them, pulling himself right over the three, kicking Robin in the chest and flying out of a window. He took to the streets, hiding in a dumpster until things had blown over. 


	2. Chapter 2 Accepted

Nightweaver emerged from his dirty hiding spot, entirely covered in trash. That's part of what set him apart from the others; he was willing to do what he needed to win. He'd definitely left an impression on the Titans.  
He had hidden quite a long way from his hideout, so it took awhile for him to travel all the way to the abandoned subway station that housed his entry tunnel. After disarming all of the traps, he took the ten minute long walk and eventually came into his control room, outfitted with various computers and televisions he had stolen or built over the years. That wasn't, however, what he was looking for; searching for something he stole a long time ago; a Titans communicator.  
After tossing the contents out of three cardboard boxes, he eventually found it. The back was broken; he'd had to do that to remove the GPS tracking chip. Entering the contacts section, he called Raven. After having to wait several seconds, he saw her face appear on screen, in what looked like her room.  
"So that's where Beast Boy's old communicator went."  
"Yup. Right here."  
"You realize that doing crimes to convince us to let you join us is entirely backwards, right?"  
"You won't let me be a good guy."  
"We don't want you to get hurt."  
"So you force me to rob museums and banks instead. And try to throw me in jail."  
"You obviously aren't older than seventeen. So you'd go to juvy at worst."  
"That's not the point. You let Aqualad be an honorary Titan. And he's useless."  
"He's very powerful."  
"So is SpongeBob by those standards." Raven looked at him oddly; he didn't recognize the look.  
"What?" he asked.  
"Nothing. Point in case, you have no real powers."  
"Neither does Robin."  
"He was trained by Batman. That's different."  
"Not that I can see. Besides, the Titans and I share a common interest."  
"What?"  
"We both hate Slade." Raven cocked an eyebrow.  
"You do?"  
"I don't like the way he goes about things. And he stole my stuff once."  
"So now you know how it feels to get stolen from."  
"I only steal what I need."  
"You took a communicator."  
"And look at that, turned out that I needed it."  
"You have a point, but that doesn't change anything."  
"Could you just talk to them? They'll listen to you."  
"I can try. Look, that doesn't mean that I can make anything happen for sure. Maybe I can get them to at least partner up with you. Let you tag along and help."  
"It's a start. Thanks, Rae."  
"You don't get to call me that. Not yet."  
"Right. Sorry. Well, sorry for bothering you guys. Night." Raven nodded and they both shut their communicators, and Weaver went to sleep immediately. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

He only woke up because of his alarm clock; he couldn't see a single trace of the sun this far underground. It was eight o'clock. He knew that at least Raven and Robin were up; he'd observed them for a long time. It wasn't stalking, it was collecting information. At least, that's what he said to put himself at ease. He decided to call her again later. For the moment, he needed to set up a meeting.  
Part of the reason he'd set up his hideout where it was was because he was actually very close to Slade's hideout. He could hear the massive gears turning if he walked down the hallway a ways. He made his way to the door to the villain's lair and opened both doors, flinging them open as he did so.  
"Slade! I know you're here. I just want to talk." He heard sinister laughing from somewhere in the room, but couldn't tell where it was coming from.  
"Who said I wanted to talk to you?" Slade taunted him.  
"I've got a deal for you."  
"Hmm?"  
"I know you've been looking for parts to a sonic bomb."  
"And how would you know that?"  
"I've seen your bots carrying stuff. Including the plans for it. I can have it all for you by tomorrow."  
"And what do you want in return?"  
"Money. Lots of it. Five hundred thousand."  
"Five hundred thousand dollars to do something that my robots would do for free."  
"I can do it faster. And the Titans can't trace it back to you."  
"Silly boy, that's the point. I don't want to destroy Jump. I want to destroy the Titans. All you're doing is setting yourself up to fail."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I know you're trying to join them. They'll never take you." His heart sank, because he had a feeling inside that Slade was right.  
"But I will."  
"Why would I work with you?"  
"Says the person who just made an offer. I can train you, teach you how to fight." Nightweaver stepped closer to the main area, standing in front of five massive screens.  
"I don't need your training."  
"Really? Then why do you need all those fancy tools to fight the Titans?"  
"Why do you need armor?"  
"Are you challenging my skills?"  
"Yeah, I am." He was launched to his knees by a kick from behind and above him. When he rolled over, Slade was already about to stomp on him. He rolled and tried to take his feet out from under him, but when he kicked Slade, his leg stayed exactly where it was. He laughed and picked Weaver up by his white shirt, wrapping his fist in the material. Weaver punched him in the throat and kicked at his stomach, but couldn't hurt him.  
"Tell me, is your mask metal?"  
"Yes, why?" He tased Slade in the face, watching with sick satisfaction as the electricity arced across his mask. He roundhouse kicked him in the head, dropping the villain.  
"You... little... brat!" Slade launched himself up and kicked Weaver in the chest, pouncing on top of him. He punched him in the face twice before elbowing him in the stomach, driving all wind from him. Weaver shot his grappling hooks at Slade's hands, stopping him momentarily and giving him the opportunity to slip out from under him. He dragged Slade's arms through the space between his legs, flipping him over, but Slade rolled, twisting the wires. Weaver pulled the hooks in and kicked Slade in his stomach, disengaging the hooks and untangling the wires while the villain recovered.  
"You'll pay for that."  
"I haven't even used all my toys."  
"I haven't even broken a sweat." Slade disappeared in a blur.  
"Oh damn." Weaver ran for the door, trying to use his grappling hook to pull himself faster, but it was in vain; Slade grabbed him by the shoulders and flipped him over backwards, driving his head into the ground. He slipped away and used his cloak to conceal himself, and called Raven on the communicator. She answered, looking tired.  
"What?"  
"I need help."  
"What?!"  
"I'm fighting Slade."  
"WHAT?!"  
"Please?"  
"Where?"  
"His hideout." Slade threw Weaver's cloak back, revealing him.  
"Hello." He grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him across the room, barely giving him time to close the communicator before he hit the wall. Raven teleported into the room, driving a giant gear into Slade and burying him in the wall.  
"You're an idiot, Weaver."  
"This wasn't the plan."  
"Sure." Slade pushed the gear away from him, emerging from the wall virtually unscathed.  
"This guy's tough."  
"You don't say?" Raven said, looking at him mockingly. Slade front flipped and brought his feet down on Weaver's head, then tried to punch Raven. She blocked him with an energy barrier, then flung a crate at his head. Slade dodged and tried to recover, but Weaver wrapped his arms to his torso using his grappling hooks. He spun around and around Slade, trying to tie him up. Slade used his body weight to his advantage and spun into the wire, catching it and sending Nightweaver flying. He smashed into a wall, landing on one knee. Raven made a shield bubble around them and tried to help.  
"You're hurt."  
"I know."  
"The shield won't hold long. Let me heal you."  
"No."  
"Why not?"  
"Because healing other people hurts for you. I don't want you to hurt yourself for me."  
"How do you know that?"  
"I know a lot of things. Don't worry about me. It's just a jammed knee."  
"Fine." She disintegrated the shield and stood, sending three crates and a gear at Slade. She encased him in wood and metal.  
"That seemed easy."  
"He isn't done." On cue, Slade burst out from the blockade, stalking towards the pair. Weaver tried to stand, but stumbled and landed back on his knee.  
"Okay. I'm stopping this." She waved her cloak around him, and when it came back off of him they were in the center room of Titans Tower.  
"I can't be here! They're going to arrest me!"  
"Don't worry about it. Sit down." He did as she said and limped over to the couch, sitting with his hands in his lap. She sat next to him and put a hand on his knee, healing him before he could protest.  
"Thank you."  
"Your welcome. Now, why exactly did you attack him?"  
"I didn't. I was trying to set him up, get him vulnerable so you guys could attack. He attacked me."  
"Slade doesn't have that bad of a temper. You must have done something to piss him off."  
"He said I had no skills. So I said he didn't have any."  
"That would do it. You're lucky he didn't just kill you."  
"I'd be dead if you hadn't come." The door behind them slid open, and they both turned to see Cyborg standing in the doorway.  
"What's this kid doin' here?"  
"He was fighting Slade. He needed help."  
"This punk fried my systems last night! I should be whoopin' his butt right now!"  
"Sorry, Cyborg. I wouldn't have if I didn't have to." He seemed surprised that he had apologized.  
"You're sorry? Well, I guess you didn't do any permanent damage... Star's pretty mad, though. She's still getting that hardening foam stuff out of her hair." Weaver smirked under his bandages.  
"Why is your face wrapped up?" Raven asked.  
"Can't afford a mask."  
"Who said you needed a mask?"  
"Good point, but I feel safer with it."  
"And your eyes?"  
"My parents were radiology scientists. Just a minor mutation from my mother being exposed to it in the beginning of her pregnancy."  
"Makes sense, I guess. Odd. Do they do anything?"  
"Other than make pretty girls curious, not much," he said smirking.  
"So you're telling me you got a mutation that doesn't do anything?" Cyborg asked.  
"Yeah."  
"I don't believe that. It's never that simple. Come on, I want to run some tests." He led him to the infirmary, and Raven followed.

"I knew there was something!" Cyborg said happily. Weaver had been laying on a table with monitors and tools all around him.  
"What?"  
"The air around your eyes becomes cold. Just the air directly around them, for now."  
"What does that mean?"  
"You know how Superman has heat vision?"  
"Yeah?"  
"The air directly around his eyes is constantly heated. You've got ice vision. You just don't know how to use it."  
"Seriously? That's pretty cool, actually... Wish I could use it."  
"Try focusing really hard on something. Superman needs to be angry to use his heat vision, so maybe... Maybe you need to be calm." Weaver took a few deep breaths and focused.  
Nothing happened.  
"Maybe I can't use it yet."  
"Hang on," Raven said, closing her eyes. Weaver's mind blanked entirely.  
"Try now." He focused on the infirmary sign, staring directly at it. After a few seconds of Raven screwing with his mental state, streams of frozen water shot out of his irises, freezing the sign solid.  
"Woah! That was awesome!" he said excitedly.  
"Alright. Cyborg, we need to talk."  
"What, Rae?"  
"I support him getting on the team."  
"He doesn't seem half bad, but there are obviously problems."  
"Such as?"  
"Well, for one, he's a criminal."  
"I only ever did what I had to. I didn't take more than I needed."  
"Yeah."  
"Three of my four murder charges were entirely accidental. The fourth, the guy was going to shoot me. That should be self defense."  
"You were robbing a bank."  
"Because I needed to."  
"Plus, Robin pretty much hates you, and it's his call."  
"I think if we all sit down and talk I can solve that."  
"Even if we can, the only spare room we have is Terra's, and I don't think we're willing to get rid of that yet."  
"I can sleep on the couch. It's more comfortable than what I sleep on at home, anyways." Raven gave him a questioning look.  
"Pile of cardboard boxes," he said, earning him an apologizing look.  
"So that's two out of five that support you getting in. Beast Boy might turn quickly, but Starfire is bound to support Robin," she said, trying to determine their next move.  
"So we talk to Beast Boy, try to get him on our side. I wasn't exactly nice to him last night, though."  
"I'll talk to him," Raven said. She left the room, going to his and leaving them alone.  
"So we're good? No hard feelings?" Weaver asked Cyborg.  
"We're good, man. Don't worry about it. I'm usually pretty forgiving."  
"Thanks. It means alot to me." They fist bumped and sat in silence for a minute or two.  
"So... You want to try using that ice vision without Raven's help?"  
"Sure." He took a few breaths and focused again. A small jet of ice shot out of each of his eyes, but it wasn't as powerful as before.  
"Well, at least you can kinda do it now."  
"That's really awesome. Thanks, Cy."  
"No problem, uhh..."  
"Nightweaver. But just call me Weaver."  
"Alright, Weaver." They heard Raven walking down the hall, talking.  
"Look, I think we should let him."  
"What?! He tased me last night! Do you know how much it hurts to get tased?! And he used two on me!" The pair entered the room and Beast Boy's eyes narrowed.  
"If you want revenge then do it. Hit me. In fact," he said, pulling his gloves off and throwing them to Beast Boy, "do it back." The green changeling strapped the gloves on and shot the tasers at him, hitting him with four electricity darts. He shook for nearly a minute before Beast Boy drew them back in and took the gloves off. After sitting for awhile, Weaver stood and took them back.  
"Better?" he asked, out of breath.  
"Better."  
"So you'll help us convince Robin and Starfire?"  
"Convince us of what?" Robin asked, standing in the door. All eyes were on him.  
"We want him in," Raven said, a tone of command in her voice.  
"He's a criminal. Once a criminal, always a criminal."  
"You didn't feel that way with Jinx."  
"That was Kid Flash's call. Not mine."  
"Give him a chance. He just let Beast Boy tase him so that he could make up. Either he's seriously over dedicated to tricking us or he's sincere. And I can feel his emotions. He's legitimately trying to be a good guy," Raven stated plainly, a hint of anger in her voice.  
"Robin, she's right. He apologized to me," Cyborg said.  
"I don't think it's a good idea. And I don't appreciate you going behind my back to convince others. I don't even like that you brought him here without my knowledge. You should have asked me."  
"Slade was beating him. I needed to help."  
"He was fighting Slade?"  
"Alone. Trying to help us. His plan backfired."  
"My hideout is within walking distance of his. I was trying to set it up so we could all surprise attack him."  
"There's no *we*. Not yet. You still have to prove yourself."  
"How?"  
"Well, if you were fighting Slade, you're good in my book. But we still don't know if you're good enough to be a Titan."  
"I took each and every one of you out, spare Raven, last night. And held my own against Slade for a while."  
"He's got a point, Robin. This dude's pretty good."  
"Fine. You can stay. But if I catch you slipping up at all, you're done."  
"Thanks, Robin."  
"Don't thank me yet." He stalked out of the room, visibly angry. He looked at the others, smiling.  
"So... you guys eat yet? I haven't eaten in days."  
"What?! Oh hell naw! I'mma make you some waffles right now!"  
"Dude, you know you wanna try my tofu waffles!"  
"No, I really don't." Beast Boy shrank.  
"Come on, y'all! Waffle time!" BB ran out of the room, followed by Cyborg. Weaver went to leave, but stopped at the door and looked back at Raven.  
"You coming?"  
"You want me to come?"  
"Of course."  
"Well... I guess." They walked towards the others and ate, filling his empty stomach. 


	3. Chapter 3 Enemy of my Enemy

Weaver dodged two flying discs, nimbly flipping between them. He grabbed another with his grappling hook, throwing it at the tower that had launched it. The launcher jammed, filling up with the explosive devices and blowing up. He used the jets in his boots, zipping between towers until he reached the end of the towers.  
"Good. Now's the speed part. You need to get through as quickly as possible, before the barriers drop down," Robin announced. Weaver sprinted, using the jets to speed him up at every step. He made it through each barrier right up until the last, which dropped earlier than expected. He slid on one leg, trying to zip under it, but it dropped too quickly. His waist was right under it; holding out a hand futilely, he wished as hard as he could that it wouldn't crush him.  
And it didn't.  
"What? Is he even touching it?" Cyborg asked.  
"Doesn't look like it. Raven, did you do that?" Robin asked.  
"No. That's him." Nightweaver stood and, using both hands now, telekinetically lifted the massive barrier. He threw it up, despite the mechanisms fighting him every step of the way, and walked out from under it before letting it drop.  
"Good job, Weaver. You didn't tell us you could do that."  
"I didn't know I could do that. What next?"  
"My turn." Robin jumped down, drawing his bo staff and standing in front of his new teammate.  
"Come on."  
"Me? Against you?"  
"Yeah. No grenades. This is for hand to hand."  
"Hand to staff."  
"True." Weaver grabbed his staff with his hooks and threw it away.  
"Okay then?" Robin said, adopting a martial arts pose. He punched at Weaver, who dodged to the left and put Robin in a headlock. The martial artist tried to throw him over his back, but Weaver hung on, diving to the ground and rubbing Robin's head in the warm sand. Robin pushed himself up and flipped Weaver over his shoulder, forcing him to let go and roll into a standing position. He shot at him with grappling hooks, gripping both of his arms and pulling him into a flying kick. Robin headbutted him and the two both fell to the ground, dazed.  
"That all you got?" Robin asked cockily.  
"You really want to ask that?"  
"I do."  
"Am I allowed to use my toys?"  
"Just not those grenades."  
"Fine." He shot at the ground in front of him, using the leverage to fling himself at the Boy Wonder, and launched four tasers at him. He only let them stay in for a few seconds before pulling them back out. He stood quickly, to Weaver's surprise.  
"I've got a few tricks, too." Robin threw a birdarang at him, which he dodged easily, watching it sail by. He turned to taunt him, but Robin axe kicked him, sending his head into the ground. Weaver grabbed his leg and tripped him, twisting his foot to the side as he flipped over, landing in an awkward crab position but pulling Robin's ankle to his head.  
"Alright, enough!" Cyborg yelled. The two let go of each other and stood. Much to Weaver's surprise, Robin extended a gloved hand. He shook it and smiled, but realized that under the mask, there was no point.  
"Thanks, Robin."  
"No problem. You're good."  
"You too." They went up to the staging area with the others.  
"So I see you two seem to have made up overnight," Cyborg said.  
"Just trying to not be so hostile. I think he could be a valuable member to the team, if he plays his cards right." Starfire still refused to speak to Weaver, which was very unlike her.  
"So, what now?"  
"Well, usually by now somebody tries to commit some kind of crime, but nothing's happening."  
"Hey, I just remembered I needed to tell you something. Slade's building a sonic bomb. It'll take him weeks to finish, but I have the plans in my hideout. I could dismantle the whole thing quite easily."  
"Good to know. Thanks. I'm gonna head up and shower. I'll talk to you guys later." Robin left, and Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire followed, leaving Weaver and Raven alone.  
"So, why do you still wear a mask?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, if you're homeless, then you don't really have an alternate identity to protect. That's why Robin wears a mask. He still has a life to go back to, unlike the rest of us. So what are you hiding?"  
"You want me to be totally honest?"  
"I'd know if you weren't."  
"I wear it because it completes the look."  
"When's the last time you took it off?"  
"A couple of days."  
"You didn't even take it off to eat yesterday. You just pulled them apart."  
"Are you curious to see my face or something?"  
"What difference does it make?"  
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter." He unwrapped the bandages from around his head after taking his hood down, revealing short, dirty black hair. He continued unwrapping, slowly unveiling his nose, which looked like it had been broken several times and never fully fixed, then his scarred upper lip, his mouth, and his chin, scarred as well.  
"Happy?"  
"Where did you get all of the scars?"  
"Busting through windows, mostly."  
"And what's wrong with your nose? Sorry if I'm being pushy or insensitive. Just wondering."  
"I wasn't always good at stealing. Got rifle butted by a few guards in the beginning." She nodded.  
"You haven't taken your hood down since I got here."  
"I don't need to."  
"You're reclusive, aren't you?"  
"What was your first clue?"  
"You don't have to be."  
"I don't trust people."  
"You trust me."  
"Because I know how you feel."  
"But I don't know how you feel."  
"I can't do this."  
"Why not?"  
"My powers are fueled by emotion. I can't be distracted like that." She floated away, leaving him alone.  
"No." He shot a line at the top of Titans Tower, following her and slowing down when he got near.  
"Raven, what do you mean?"  
"I mean that I can't just decide to have a relationship."  
"Well... What are you feeling right now?"  
"You don't want to know what I'm feeling. You're asking all these questions so that you can try to come out of this conversation winning. You don't actually care."  
"I do."  
"Fine. I'm angry at myself, and angry at you for not just leaving me alone when it was obvious I wanted to be. You've ripped open old wounds and now I feel alone again. I'm starting to regret getting you into this team and I'm trying to stay happy but I know that I can't because you won't drop this."  
"No, I won't. And I'm sorry that I'm making you feel bad. But I do care. I've cared for a while."  
"And now I'm creeped out."  
"Sorry. I guess you knew, so yes, I have had feelings for you for a long time. Sorry if I want to follow through on them."  
"But you need to understand that I can't just jump into something."  
"Alright. Just answer one question."  
"What?"  
"Do you feel anything for me?" Raven froze.  
"I.. I do."  
"Good enough for me. We can do things however you'd like." He smiled at her sincerely, and she looked down.  
"You want to be alone now, don't you?"  
"Yeah. Kinda."  
"Alright. I'll talk to you later." He resumed his ascent, landing on the roof. Robin was standing on the roof, and he motioned for him to come closer.  
"Yeah?"  
"I was acting nice, but I still don't want you here. I don't know how you've tricked Raven, but you're slimy. You're scummy. I know your type. You don't belong here, and you shouldn't be here."  
"Fine. You want me to prove myself? Give me something. Anything."  
"I want you to leave."  
"That's not going to prove anything."  
"Fine. I want you to spend a month in jail. Real jail, with real criminals. You don't get to bring any of your toys. I want you to start a fight every single day and I want you to win every time. I want you to make enemies, as many as possible. I don't want a single person in the criminal underworld to have a scrap of respect for you."  
"Deal. But I've got a question."  
"What?" he snapped.  
"What the hell is your problem? I've spent years trying to get you guys to take me in. You told me I wasn't good enough. Then I try to prove myself and you just say that I'm a criminal. You come up with every excuse in the book to not let me join up with you, and then you say you want to throw me in jail instead of have me in your team. What's the problem here? Are you worried I'm gonna turn out just like Terra? Are you trying to push me away so that I can't betray you? Because at this point I'd almost rather go and work for Slade. At least he's willing to take people in. You think you're too damn good for me or for anybody that's never done anything wrong in their life. What if Cyborg shoots at somebody and misses and kills somebody? Are you just going to throw him out? What about Raven causing the end of the world? Shouldn't she be in jail for being responsible for the death of every single person in the world? Starfire causes damage constantly. Vandalism. Same for Beast Boy. And you aren't even old enough to drive and you have a motorcycle. Every single one of you is a criminal on some level."  
"We aren't criminals. We do what we do to help protect the city."  
"The ends justify the means, huh? Alright, Slade."  
"If you *ever* call me that again, I'm going to hurt you."  
"Oh no, Batman's little sidekick is threatening me. You're pathetic, you know that?" Robin raised his arm to punch Weaver, and he did the same, but a moment before they made contact, their limbs were enveloped in dark energy and they were separated.  
"Both of you, stop!" Raven yelled.  
"How long have you been there?" Robin asked.  
"The whole time. If you two hadn't been so busy arguing you would have noticed. Weaver, you aren't going to prison, and you aren't going to work for Slade. You're gonna stay right here and you're going to have a home. Robin, we aren't going to have any more problems. You don't have to live in this dimension anymore if you don't want to. He's right, you're worried about a repeat of Terra. So was I. I've been in the deepest recesses of his mind. He's sincere."  
"When were you...?"  
"When you were asleep. Sorry. I had to be sure."  
"It's alright."  
"Like I was saying, Robin, you need to just stop. He's here, and he's not going away unless he decides to. We're a family here. You don't have a family. Beast Boy doesn't either. Cyborg's dad has all but disappeared. My father is a demon and my mother is in another dimension. Starfire's family is on another planet. We're all that we've got. And he needs a family too."  
"What happened to his family?"  
"My parents were killed in a mafia drive by. They hit the wrong people." Robin looked surprised.  
"And what happened to yours?"  
"We were circus performers. The mafia cut their trapeze ropes."  
"What family?"  
"Falcones."  
"Same."  
"There. You've got a common enemy. Can you make up now? I don't want you two fighting anymore."  
"I'm sorry, Weaver."  
"It's alright. I'm sorry for what I said." She released them, and they shook hands again.  
"So... What do you want to do, Weaver?"  
"I think we should restart."  
"Alright. Robin."  
"Simon Weaver." He cocked an eyebrow.  
"Your real name?"  
"Yeah. Raven's right, I have no alternate life to protect. But I'm still going to go by Nightweaver, just because it sounds cool." They both smiled at the comment.  
"I think we're gonna get along just fine."  
"I hope we do." Raven floated down next to them, stopping Weaver.  
"Go on, Robin. I need to talk to him."  
"Alright." He opened the rooftop door and started down the stairs.  
"He still doesn't entirely approve of you, but he feels like he has a link to you now. Just leave it alone for a bit, take it slow."  
"Thanks, Rae."  
"You still aren't allowed to call me that."  
"You can call me Simon if you want."  
"Doesn't change anything."  
"Alright. When can I call you Rae?"  
"When I feel like I can trust you with my life."  
"You don't already?"  
"We've been teammates for two days."  
"Okay, you have a point. Well, it's progress."  
"True. Let's go."

Author's Note I'm going to try to post a chapter at least daily, if not more. I write incredibly fast compared to some people, so that shouldn't be a problem, but if I don't get any reviews then I'm gonna end up slowing it down and trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. And the beginning is going to be a bit steady, it'll start getting crazy soon enough. Slade's always got something planned, and I fully intend to make use of other villains, particularly the Brotherhood and possibly even some that you wouldn't normally see in a Titans fanfic (who shall remain unnamed, because where's the fun in letting you know everything?)  
So please read, and PLEASE review. I don't know what to fix, if anything, without reviews. 


	4. Chapter 4 Rising Tides

Weaver dodged left and right, avoiding laser bolts. Slade had attacked a nuclear power plant, his first strike in the two weeks Nightweaver had been a Titan. Raven encased two of his robots in dark energy and smashed them together onto a third. Cyborg was spraying down the drones with his sonic cannon, and Beast Boy was crushing them and chewing them to bits as a T-Rex. Starfire and Robin were fighting together; Star would swing Robin around, launch him into the air, and he would throw down bombs and fight his way back to her while she cleared an area around them. Weaver was trying to hunt down Slade himself, who they knew was there; he had greeted them personally. He flipped over the head of a bot and shot a grappling hook backwards at it, yanking it upwards and watching it fly as he pulled it back down, smashing it into the concrete floor and causing a minor shockwave that stumbled everybody in the room, Slade included. He saw the mastermind trying to make his way to the reactor room.  
Raven blocked the door to the reactors with a slab of concrete she ripped out of the ground, giving Weaver the distraction he needed. His grappling hooks had been upgraded; now, they had claws at the end that would grab anything he shot them at, almost like hands. Instead of a wire, they were held with a thick cable. He shot them at the concrete, digging into the stone, and pulled in as hard as he could, sending himself flying towards Slade. Extending a foot, he tried to kick him in the back of the head, but he skillfully dodged and grabbed his leg, pulling against the force of the wires, but eventually gave in, letting them slam the thief against the wall. He fell over, clutching his knee.  
"Ow! You're going down for that, cyclops!" He got to his feet slowly, raising his fists.  
"You aren't worth my time, child." Slade pushed him aside, and Weaver tased him in the side. He snapped and backhanded him, sending him to the ground with a loud smack. Weaver shot his hooks at Slade's neck, wrapping them around his throat, and pulled him to the ground, choking the villain.  
"Nightweaver! Don't kill him! We need to take him in!"  
"I'm not!" he spat out, not sure who had yelled at him. Slade grabbed the cables and swung them over his head, using leverage to slam him into the ground, yet he held on. He repeated the motion several times, before Weaver had enough.  
"Now you've screwed up." He tased the cable, shocking Slade and sending electricity coursing through his entire body. He slumped over, seemingly defeated.  
"Damn, Weaver. That was pretty vicious," Cyborg said, impressed.  
"Not vicious enough." Slade pulled a knife out of his boot and slashed at him, cutting a wide swath across his right arm. Looking down in shock, Weaver couldn't block a kick that hit him directly in the face. He heard crunching, and knew his nose was broken yet again. Rolling onto his good arm and propping himself up on one knee, he shot all of his tasers at Slade, who dodged them all and cut the power lines to several with his knife.  
"Raven! Get him out of here!" Robin yelled. She nodded and teleported them both outside.  
"Damn it, I could have handled him!"  
"You're bleeding out. The adrenaline won't let you feel it. Here," she said, putting a hand on his wound. He felt the skin and muscle binding back together, and watched her go through all of his pain. She shuddered, and he put his hand on hers.  
"Thank you. Raven." She smiled for a moment, then stood.  
"We should get back into it."  
"Right." She teleported them both back into the fight, surrounding themselves with robots again.  
"Weaver! You know what to do!" Robin commanded. He shot himself up to the ceiling and, motioning for Raven to defend Cyborg, tossed down three EMP grenades. All of the androids short circuited and fell to the ground, leaving them free to take on Slade, who had dug his way into the reactor room.  
"Titans, go!" Robin yelled, and they sped through the hallways to the reactor room, where Slade was standing and laughing.  
"Silly children. Did you really think this was what my plan was?"  
"What are you planning?" Robin asked through his teeth.  
"All I want to do is get rid of you."  
"So you bring us to a nuclear reactor and blow it up with us in here."  
"Exactly."  
"And what about you?" He reached up and pulled his mask off, revealing that it was another android.  
"Damn it!" Robin yelled. The android pulled a drive out of a computer and put another one in.  
"There's your choice, Titans. Either you figure out what I just did and contain the blast, killing all of you, but only destroying the plant - or you leave it alone and watch as thousands are captured in an uncontained explosion and die."  
"Bastard!" Cyborg yelled.  
"You will pay for this!" Starfire said angrily.  
"Guys, it's the sonic bomb, remember?" Slade looked startled on screen.  
"I... uh... don't listen to him! He's working for me, you see. Right, apprentice?" Weaver looked at the screen with a look that just said, "really?"  
"Cyborg, get the sonic bomb. Raven, you stay with him and protect him if anything goes wrong. Weaver, you and I are going to get Slade for this. Starfire, Beast Boy, you'll be backup, in case anything goes wrong." Weaver tased the android, hitting it in the motherboard and destroying it.  
"Good. I'll triangulate where that was being transmitted from."  
"It's in his hideout. It's always in his hideout," he said, very matter-of-factly.  
"Good point. Raven, would you kindly?"  
"Gladly." She wrapped them both in her cloak and teleported them into his lair, then returned to Cyborg.  
"Slade, this may be the worst plan you've ever had," Robin said mockingly.  
"Or is it the best?" They looked up as they noticed red, blinking lights on the ceiling.  
"Oh god," Weaver said, scared. They started to beep in unison, and then one by one they exploded, collapsing the ceiling above them. Robin took cover under his cape, and Nightweaver held his hands out, desperately wishing that they wouldn't be crushed. He held a large boulder of concrete over his head, blocking several others and feeling their impact as each one brought it closer to his broken nose.  
"Weaver! Keep that up! One of the bombs didn't explode! I can find where he hit the trigger from it!"  
"Trying... to... hold..." Nightweaver muttered, under heavy stress. When the impacts stopped, he threw the boulder away, landing in rubble and immediately shattering.  
"Find him. Now. He's tried to kill me three times in twenty minutes."  
"Will do." Robin grabbed the bomb off of a fallen piece of rubble. There was a small screen on it. Slade appeared, in the main room of Titans Tower.  
"Really, Robin? When will you stop being so foolish?" The bomb began to beep, and Weaver grabbed it with a hook and threw it across the room, exploding harmlessly against a wall.  
"Thanks. You just... saved my life. I guess I was wrong about you."  
"No problem. Just pay me back."  
"To the Tower?"  
"Yeah." Robin pulled out his communicator and told the others the news; Cyborg had disarmed the bomb, and Raven was already in the Tower searching for Slade. Beast Boy and Starfire were on their way, leaving Robin and Weaver as the last two to arrive.

When they entered the front door, they found it in disarray; all of the chairs were either ripped apart or flipped over. They split up, going up separate flights of stairs and searching the hallways until they both found each other in the main room.  
"Where is everybody?" Robin asked. Weaver shrugged. Beast Boy came crashing through the front window.  
"Ow! Guys, roof! Duh!" He morphed into a bird and flew back up to the roof. Weaver sprinted up the stairs, Robin right behind him. He tried to push the door open and realized it had been barricaded with something. Weaver kicked it and slammed his shoulder against it, but he couldn't get it open.  
"Robin, help!" Robin pulled the door open, smirking.  
"Shut up." They both ran out onto the roof. Slade was on top of Beast Boy, who was currently an elephant. Cyborg was trying to blast him off, with no success. Starfire was making low sweeps, trying to pick him off, but Slade was successfully batting her aside. Raven was nowhere to be found. Robin called Starfire over.  
"Where's Raven?"  
"The Slade has hurt her. She fell from the roof and I could not catch her. I believe she landed in the water." Weaver looked over the edge and saw her cloak, floating in the bay.  
"You take him out! I'll get her!" he yelled, diving off of the Tower. He activated his boot jets as he got closer to the surface, slowing his fall as he neared the water. Turning them off three feet above, he dove in, spotted Raven, and swam towards her. He pulled the mystic up out of the water and used his boosters to propel them through the water and to the island.  
Once he had her on land, he checked her vitals. She had a pulse, but it was weak, and she wasn't breathing. He performed CPR, clasping his hands and pumping her ribs a few times. He did mouth-to-mouth several times, and she coughed up water and sat up.  
"Oh god... that was bad..." she said, still coughing up water.  
"What, me, or the water?" he asked jokingly.  
"Both," she joked back.  
"Are you alright?"  
"Aside from nearly drowning and Slade hitting me in the face, yeah, I'm pretty good."  
"How bad did he hurt you?"  
"My teeth hurt."  
"I'm gonna hurt him so bad. Are you prepared to fight or do you need some time?"  
"I'm ready if you are." He grabbed her around her waist and activated his jets, zipping up and into the air, reaching the roof in seconds.  
"Stop him for a second." Slade was mid-flip when Raven pushed him to the ground, slamming his head into the rooftop. Weaver grabbed his feet with the claws and spun him around several times, building momentum, then released, sending Slade flying across the sky. He landed in the water somewhat gracefully, diving in and disappearing into the waves.  
"Damn, Weaver. That was... crazy," Beast Boy said, surprised.  
"He hurt her. Sorry. Lost my temper a bit."  
"It's alright," Robin said, nodding. "We were losing anyways."  
"We'll get him next time," Cyborg said, ever confident.  
"That better be soon." 


	5. Chapter 5 Backup

"It's been two days," Robin said, pacing back and forth in the main room. "He can't be laying low. He's doing something right under our noses."  
"Not necessarily. Slade and I were neighbors for a while. He likes to keep off the charts to screw with you, Robin."  
"Are you serious?"  
"Yeah."  
"Bastard... We need to find him."  
"Robin, could the Slade be in his hideout? Or perhaps in one of his many different places to hide around the city, such as the underground tunnels or the quarry?"  
"I doubt it. He knows we'd look there."  
"Or maybe he'd go there *because* we'd look there," Raven said in her usual monotone.  
"Yeah. Dude's got a habit of hangin' in places we'd go to just to get to us," Cyborg commented. Everybody looked around.  
"Where's Beast Boy?" Robin asked, suddenly distracted.

"Figures," Raven said gloomily. Beast Boy was passed out, drooling on his pillow with his right leg and arm hanging off of the bed.  
"We should just leave him. Or maybe we could do ice marbles," Nightweaver said, laughing at his own idea. Everybody else looked at him like he was crazy.  
"What?"  
"Ice... marbles?" Robin asked somewhat timidly.  
"Alright, look. Get me some marbles. As many as possible." In five minutes, they had found nearly fifty marbles. Weaver got an empty soup can, washed it out, and placed all of the marbles inside, then put it in the freezer.  
"Give it ten minutes."  
"What's the point?" Robin asked.  
"Marbles retain their temperature for a long time. And since they're perfectly round, if you try to roll away from them, they follow you. He's gonna freeze his butt off," Weaver said, smiling.  
"How do you know about that?" Raven asked.  
"Parents used to do it to me if I slept in too late. My parents used to do a lot of things," he said, his tone dropping. Raven gave him an apologetic look. Cyborg put a hand on his shoulder.  
"It's cool, dude. We all understand."  
"Thanks." Robin pulled the marbles out of the freezer and felt them.  
"Cold as ice. We should do it now." The five went into BB's room and poured the marbles into his bed; he rolled over, still half asleep. When the marbles followed, he tried to roll the other way, but landed on top of them all. He jumped, tumbling and tossing in an attempt to get away, but after a few minutes he just fell off of the bed. Everybody was laughing at him, even Raven. He scratched his head.  
"That hurt. You guys are jerks."  
"It's about time somebody other than me pranked you, grass stain!" Cyborg said, still laughing.

Fifteen minutes later, they had all assembled and eaten and were waiting in the common room.  
"So, what's the plan? We can't just sit around and wait for Slade," Weaver said impatiently.  
"We won't have to. Trouble," Robin announced. Raven teleported herself and Weaver to the docks, where the map had indicated. There was nobody there, but they heard hammering nearby.  
"Robin, moving in now," Weaver said into his communicator. He grappled up onto a roof and moved towards the source of the pounding, silently stalking his prey. His heart skipped a beat when he saw who was hijacking shipments. He flipped his communicator open and hid.  
"Robin, we have a problem."  
"What?"  
"False Face Society."  
"Huh?"  
"Black Mask. These are Black Mask's guys."  
"We've got a problem. Even Batman hates going against this guy."  
"I know. What do we do? Call the Bat?"  
"No. We can handle him if we just get some kind of leverage. Take them out. We'll be there soon." Weaver nodded and shut the communicator, then nodded to Raven. She disassembled their guns in their holsters, disarming them stealthily. Weaver jumped down, grabbing two large shipping crates with his claws, then jumped and yanked them together, crushing two of the gangsters. The last one drew his pistol, only succeeding in pulling the grip of his gun out before Weaver kicked him in the face.  
"Did you just kill those guys?" Raven asked.  
"Naw." He pulled the containers apart and the two fell over, breathing heavily.  
"They're just made of aluminum. Hurt like hell, though."  
"Why take the chance?" He shrugged.  
"Felt like it." She rolled her eyes, but grabbed him and flew upwards.  
"You see any more activity?"  
"We wouldn't have gotten an alert for three guys."  
"True." Weaver opened his communicator again.  
"Weaver! Raven! They're in the main office! They've got a machine gun set up-" Robin ducked as the crate he was behind splintered, a bullet flying through it - "pinning us down, we need help!" Cyborg fired his cannon over cover in the background.  
"On it." He shut his communicator, and Raven warped the two behind the office Robin was talking about. There were stairs up to the spot where the False Face members had decided to hold out. Holding himself up with one claw, Weaver slid a window back and snuck in behind the gunners. There were four total; two on each gun, and two with assault rifles firing at the Titans. Weaver tased the two with rifles, then grabbed each of the main gunners and comically smashed their heads together, knocking them out. Beast Boy emerged from behind cover, breathing a sigh of relief.  
"Any other action?" Raven asked, floating up behind him.  
"That was it. That was a message. Let's get these guys cuffed and get out of here," Robin ordered, obviously shaken but trying to hide it.

"Guys, we're in serious trouble," Robin told them back at the Tower.  
"We need to call in help if it's Black Mask. He's ruthless. I've dealt with him personally before. I nearly died," Weaver recalled. The T.V. screen shifted into static, then refocused into Slade's face.  
"Slade! What do you want?!" Robin yelled angrily.  
"Patience, Robin. First, I want you to meet my good friend, the Black Mask." Slade stepped aside, showing Black Mask standing behind him.  
"I see you've met my associates already. There are more where they come from, believe me."  
"Damn it, Slade! We could have died!"  
"That's the point. I decided that, if you got to find new friends... so did I." The camera zoomed out, revealing a plethora of other villains. Lex Luthor, General Immortus, the Joker, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, The Brain, the Riddler, the Penguin, Black Adam, Two-Face, and Giganta all stood assembled. Robin's face went pale. He shut off the T.V. and sat down. They all stared in silence for several moments before Beast Boy broke the quiet.  
"We. Are so. Screwed." Robin pulled out his communicator, dialing something in. Alfred's face popped up on screen.  
"Alfred, we need help. Badly."  
"I'm sorry, Robin, but I fear that Batman isn't currently in Gotham. All of our crime lords have gone underground, and he's searching for them elsewhere."  
"They're here, Alfred. All of them came here. We can't handle this. I don't think even Batman can handle all of them together."  
"Oh my... I'll alert him as soon as I can, and I'll contact the Justice League as well. Good luck, Robin. And please, do stay alive and well. I would hate to have to say goodbye to you for good."  
"I will, Alfred... Talk to me when you've gotten a hold of Batman."  
"Yes, sir." He shut the communicator defeatedly, staring at the device solemnly. They went silent again, and this time Weaver broke the ice.  
"We're on our own for now. We need a plan."  
"Our plan is to stay here and try not to get killed. Any of them alone could kill us. Deadshot could have a gun aimed at my head right now, for all I know. Riddler's the only one who wouldn't just outright shoot us all, and even he's a wildcard." Robin's communicator vibrated and he answered it quickly, relieved to see Superman on the other end.  
"Titans, I heard you have some trouble?"  
"Bit of an understatement," Raven said, poking her head into the feed.  
"Who's got you guys scared? Slade's pretty tough. I doubt anybody could beat you, alone at least."  
"Alfred didn't tell you?"  
"No, he just said you needed help. I'm en route now."  
"Joker, Black Mask, Lex Luthor, and Two-Face, just to name a few." Superman looked worried.  
"You kids hole up in the basement. I'll be there in maybe ten minutes."  
"Will do, sir." Robin shut the communicator and ushered them into the basement, much to their protest. Weaver stood at the door, rebelliously staring Robin down.  
"I'm scared out of my mind, but I'm not hiding in the basement like a little kid in a tornado. We can handle this for ten minutes."  
"It's *Superman*, Weaver. When he tells you to do something, you listen."  
"I don't give a damn if it's Zeus himself. I'm not going to hide down here." They heard a knocking at the front door, and Robin's communicator buzzed again. He answered it, and saw Superman standing in the rain at the door.  
"I need you to let me in. I don't want to bust in and- agh!" He dropped, and the feed looked away, revealing Deadshot standing not fifteen feet away from the Man of Steel. He picked up the camera and pointed it at him, a bullet hole in his forehead. Then he turned it back.  
"I'll have to thank Lex for that kryptonite-tipped bullet. Your backup's gone, kiddos. What are you going to do?" The feed shut off, leaving them in the dark again. Beast Boy collapsed against a wall.  
"Oh my god. We just watched Superman get shot in the head on our doorstep! We're going to die. We're going to die. We're going to die."  
"Calm down. I have an idea," Raven said. They all gathered around her to hear it, and before she said anything, she enveloped them all in her soul self and flew to the outskirts of the city.  
"There. Now they have no idea where we are. For now. Robin, call Alfred. Tell him what happened." Robin did as he was told and called Batman's butler.  
"Weaver, where's your hideout?"  
"It's right next to Slade's, just about four hundred feet away. You sure it's safe?"  
"Last place he would think to go. We'll head there after Robin's done." Beast Boy had his arms wrapped around his knees, bobbing back and forth and muttering "we're gonna die" over and over again. Neither Cyborg nor Starfire had said a word.  
"Alfred, Superman's dead."  
"What?!"  
"Deadshot killed him. Kryptonite bullet. We're alone."  
"I might be able to contact the Green Lanterns. Perhaps Wonder Woman and her Amazonians. This might require the entire Justice League."  
"Alfred... In case anything happens before Batman gets back... Tell Bruce I said thank you." He shut the communicator and looked down.  
"Robin? Are you... alright?" Raven asked. He looked back at her over his shoulder, and his face said it all.  
"No. I don't see a way to beat these guys. Deadshot could pick any of us off at any moment. All together they have to have at least a million minions and henchman, and all of them are crafty and vicious."  
"And we aren't done!" Robin turned to see the Joker on top of a rock above them.  
"Don't worry, bird brains! I'm not here to fight - yet. I just wanted to let you know, your old pal Slade has a couple tricks up his sleeve - some are a little bizarre, and others spell doom!" The Joker laughed before throwing down a smoke bomb and disappearing. Raven immediately warped them all to Weaver's hideout, ignoring the dirty clothes and food all around.  
"He couldn't have been more obvious if he tried," Weaver said. Robin looked at him oddly.  
"Huh?"  
"Bizarre. Bizarro. Doom. Doomsday."  
"Doomsday?! Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god my god my god we are all going to DIE!" Beast Boy shouted.  
"Raven, would you please?" Weaver asked calmly. Raven motioned towards him and BB fell asleep on the spot. Robin's communicator buzzed again. He answered it, glad to see Batman.  
"Robin, I'm on my way."  
"Don't! Not alone."  
"I know about Superman. I'm disguised on the outside as a minivan. They won't be able to pick me out. Hal Jordan and John Stewart are both coming, but the rest of the Corps are preoccupied."  
"Bizarro and Doomsday are here, too."  
"Slade's got control of Doomsday? This is bad. And Superman is dead."  
"Yeah. We're in trouble. Big trouble."  
"Wonder Woman is going to come, along with the Flash and Green Arrow. We'll collect others as we go. We want to get you kids out of there. It's too dangerous. I know you said you didn't want me or anybody else intervening, but this is serious." Weaver took the communicator from Robin.  
"I don't know about these guys, but I'm not leaving. I was born in Jump, and I'll die here if I have to." Raven popped up behind his shoulder.  
"If I die, it's actually a good thing. I'm staying."  
"I will do the fighting as well!"  
"Ah, what the hell. I ain't got much else to live for. I'm stayin' too!" They looked to Robin for his answer. He nodded slowly, unsure.  
"Robin's staying too."  
"And Beast Boy?"  
"We knocked him out."  
"Good call. I'll be there soon. I have a GPS fix on your location, so you don't need to move." Weaver shut the communicator and breathed heavily. Robin laid down and went to sleep, seemingly in shock. Cyborg shut himself down for the night, and Starfire fell asleep.  
"Raven, we're going to be okay, alright? I don't know how, but we'll be okay..." Weaver said, drifting off at the end.  
"You don't know if we'll be okay, and neither do I."  
"I do know one thing though," he said, staring into her eyes.  
"What?"  
"I know that if I died fighting by your side, it was worth it." She smiled, and he pulled down his bandages.  
"You're a good guy, Simon."  
"Thanks, Rae."  
"You know, I think I'll let you slide on that one."  
"So, sleep?"  
"I already know I won't be able to."  
"Me neither."  
"Now's probably gonna be our last chance to talk seriously."  
"You want to know how I feel about... us."  
"Yeah, I do."  
"Well... I know you've got these feelings for me. And don't get me wrong, I would like to have them back, but I can't."  
"What do you mean?"  
"The last time I "fell in love" with somebody he turned out to be an evil dragon bound inside of a book."  
"Do you see any wings on me?"  
"No, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't feel safe."  
"I don't feel safe either. Look, this might be our last chance. Personally... I've never had a girlfriend. From the sounds of it, you've never actually been with anybody either. So why not just give it a shot?"  
"You're... you're right."  
"Are you sure? I don't want it to be like me pressuring you, that's just my view on it."  
"I am. I had the same thought but just chalked it down to me being panicked. I guess it makes sense."  
"So I guess that's how it's going down. No matter what happens, we do this together." He smiled, and she smiled back.  
"You know, those eyes do seriously make you look good." She started to lean in, staring into his eyes. He leaned further too, his mind racing. Right before their lips made contact, her nose bumped into his, and he suddenly remembered that his nose was broken, the pain that shot through his face an unpleasant reminder. He jumped back and yelped and she leaned back, scared.  
"Did I do something wrong?"  
"Ah! No... no, it wasn't you. Slade broke my nose. It hasn't healed yet. Just hurt a lot, sorry. I guess that'll just have to wait, cause it's too awkward not and-" He was interrupted by her mouth on his, and they kissed for a few long seconds before they released each other. He came back up smiling, and she was too.  
"So, on with the night, then," Weaver said, happy. They spent the rest of the night talking to each other, and trying to learn more about each other.

In the morning, Batman had showed up undetected, and had made his way into the hideout. Weaver woke up and tried to stand, but realized that Raven had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. The rest snoozed loudly in front of the Dark Knight.  
"Hey," he said, trying to casually strike up conversation with him.  
"Are those my leggings?" he asked, his voice gravelly.  
"Uhh... I do believe they are, yes."  
"Mind if I ask where you got them?"  
"The... uhhh... Batcave..." Batman squinted angrily at him.  
"You're lucky I don't arrest you here. What's your name, son?"  
"Nightweaver. You can just call me Weaver."  
"Why, exactly, do you have my leggings?"  
"Because I used to be a thief. I had nothing to protect my legs. Sorry. I was homeless."  
"I see. I guess it's okay, then, but I would rather you'd stayed and asked for my help personally."  
"You're scary. Sorry." He gently pushed Raven away and leaned her up against the wall, standing to greet Batman. He was still at least a head taller than Weaver. He nervously extended a hand, and Batman shook it.  
"I know you want to stay, but I seriously need you kids to leave. This is serious business, guys that nearly beat me all the time."  
"I don't care if I die, Batman. I just want to be good in the end."  
"They'll use you as leverage against me. Criminals as they may be, they're smart. They know I can't let any of you die."  
"I see your point, but I won't be put in that position, and neither will the others. We're capable of handling ourselves. We may need help, but we can still fight." Batman nodded. They woke the others up, leaving Raven for last. Batman stood in the center of the room, commanding their attention.  
"Look. We have a basic game plan here. Obviously, the mastermind here is Slade. Organizing a group like this is *very* much out of his M.O., so he probably has somebody else calling the shots behind the scenes. I'd put that up to either Calculator or Lex."  
"Calculator isn't a part of this," Robin said, still tired.  
"I know, but that's his style; never appear in person. Just act as intelligence outside of the operating area."  
"Smart," Weaver commented.  
"Exactly. That's Calculator's only power. He's a genius, smarter than all of us combined. Slade's no idiot, and he knows that he would need someone like him to beat us."  
"Alright, what else?" Cyborg asked.  
"Slade probably isn't operating out of his usual hideout, for several reasons. The first is that there was no security on the way here, meaning that he's either holed up in there tight or he isn't there at all. Secondly, it's too obvious. He's not playing a game anymore." Raven nodded silently.  
"With Superman dead, we're going to need all the help we can get. Deadshot is, as you've seen, lethally efficient. We're going to need to eliminate him quickly. Supergirl and Powergirl are on their way to help. What this means is that we need to get them away from Lex so that they can take out the others. Lex, we'll have to deal with ourselves."  
"Great, so chrome dome is the centerpiece here."  
"Not necessarily. Slade is an excellent combatant himself, and he'll surely have support from all of the crime lords he's recruited. I want you all to rest up until night. We'll go out scouting then." They gave their various votes of approval and settled down into the same positions as before.  
"We need to talk," Raven said awkwardly to Weaver.  
"Yeah?"  
"I don't think we should do this."  
"Why not?"  
"A panicked and rushed relationship isn't good. It doesn't feel right. Even if it does feel good." He nodded.  
"I understand. It's alright." He slumped down in a corner, trying to mask his sorrow, but knew that it was pointless. She looked at him apologetically, a look he'd already become used to seeing, but shook his head. 


	6. Chapter 6 Calm before the Storm

Thirteen hours later, Robin and Batman had left, going scouting for Deadshot. They had been tasked with turning Weaver's hideout into a fully functional command center; Cyborg and Raven took over that part, while the others watched the door. The two worked on his computer systems, rigging them to search databases and have full access to the GPS network. Within a few hours, they could find all the information on anything in the globe and know exactly where it was, how it had gotten there, and why it was there. Weaver was impressed.  
Batman stepped in the hallway, disabling the traps the same way Weaver always had, and walked down the long tunnel.  
"How did you..."  
"Know where your disable switch was? You have a light switch and no lights. It was fairly obvious." His face remained entirely serious.  
"Thanks. So what's the plan right now? What can we do?"  
"We found Deadshot. He's out of the question right now. We locked him in an asylum room. No chance of escape for the moment."  
"Who's next?"  
"Giganta can be an easy target if you catch her off guard. You and Raven would probably be best for that job. All you have to do is find her. Your tasers should be fully capable of taking her down before she can force herself to grow."  
"Hopefully." Raven approached the two.  
"Ready to go, Rae?" She gave him a disapproving look, but nodded.  
"Alright. Can you try to find her for us? I've never used a GPS tracker before, and I doubt Raven has all too much experience with it..."  
"You're in luck. She's been spotted in a park near the south side of town."  
"Got it." Raven warped the two to a building, high above the park. Giganta's yellow and black jumpsuit stood out in stark contrast to the greens and browns of the park.  
"Aerial attack?"  
"You need to sneak up on her."  
"Good point." He jumped off of the building, his hood barely keeping on as he used his boosters to slow his fall. He flipped the cloak over himself, turning his entire body into a piece of shimmering light. She wouldn't notice him if he kept to the shadows.  
Stalking alongside the paths, he eventually found her, sitting on a bench. She looked like she was bored.  
"Cocky. This'll teach her," he muttered to himself. He snuck up behind her, moving his arms out from underneath the cloak, readying himself to strike. He suddenly realized he was sweating, and did his best to control it.  
As he got his arms back, ready to activate the tasers, she stood and turned. Then, she stared straight at him.  
"Uh... Hi?" he said, turning to run. He watched her shadow grow and grow behind him until it had enveloped him entirely.  
"Raven! A little help?!" Seeing her nowhere, he realized that he was alone, and had no way to escape. Turning, he shot a claw at her that wrapped around her arm and pulled himself in, soaring through the air in a sideways arc towards her. Looping around, he landed on top of her head. He grabbed a massive strand of hair and hung down in front of her eyes.  
"Hey, big and beautiful. Hope this hurts!" He put his boots in front of her eyes and activated the jets, spraying flame into her retinas. She grabbed her eyes and missed him by inches.  
Jumping off of her, he rappelled down and tased her several times along the way. The giantess was seemingly unaffected by the electric darts piercing her skin. She swatted at him with one hand, trying to get him to the ground to crush him, but he dodged her massive hand skillfully. Circling around the small of her back, he shot a claw at a building on the other side of the street and drew himself to the top of it. He opened his communicator, hiding momentarily.  
"Raven! Where the hell are you?!"  
"Little... preoccupied..." she said, strain in her voice.  
"Who is it?"  
"Felix Faust," she said, breathing heavily. "He ambushed me on the roof. Black Mask is out here, too. You need to be careful."  
"Greaaat." The air conditioning unit he was hiding behind vanished; turning, he saw that Giganta had torn it off of the roof.  
"Weakling!" she yelled, hurling it at him. He grasped it with his claws and swung it around, bringing it back into her cheekbone. She staggered, but glared at him with renewed rage.  
"Nice job, kid. I got it." He turned to see Hal Jordan generating a cannon with his light ring, hitting Giganta in the stomach with a hard light cannonball. As she stumbled, he created a giant baseball bat, swinging it into her head and knocking the massive woman out. She shrunk as she fell, eventually becoming human-sized again. Hal floated down to Nightweaver and extended a hand.  
"You did good. Where's Bats? I need to talk to him."  
"He's in the hideout. Raven's in trouble, we need to help her!" he said, trying to sound urgent. Hal handcuffed Giganta, even though it would be useless if she tried to grow.  
"Right. Where?" He flipped open his communicator to check, but realized he didn't need to as a giant raven made of her dark energy slammed itself into the roof of a building.  
"Ah. There. Come on!" Hal said, grabbing Weaver by the arm. He flew them to the building and released Weaver a few moments before he got to the building itself. Weaver rolled to absorb the impact of the fall and came up face-to-face with Black Mask.  
"Tell me kid, you like wearing Halloween costumes?" He punched Weaver in the stomach and slammed him to the ground, shoving a pistol in his face.  
"This is it. Any last wishes?"  
"Yeah. For you to get your ugly mug off of me." He planted his foot in Black Mask's midsection and shoved him off, standing quickly to avoid being knocked down again. One of Faust's Soulless did exactly that, tackling Weaver to the ground. His zombie-like appearance threw him off guard for a moment, but Green Lantern threw the beast off of him.  
"Come on! We can't do this alone!" he yelled.  
"You don't have to!" Weaver yelled as he grabbed Mask and slammed him into the ground. He grabbed one of the claw's fingers and snapped it off, rendering it next to useless.  
"Bastard!" He withdrew the claw, using that hand to send tasers at him. Every one of them hit him in the face, but Mask didn't flinch.  
"What?!"  
"Ebony wood. Doesn't conduct."  
"Aw, crap." He stood and walked towards Weaver, who took several steps back before running at his opponent. He jumped and stuck his foot out, but Black Mask grabbed it and spun it, resulting in Weaver simply sliding face first on the concrete. His bandages were shredded, and he felt blood on his face. Standing, he threw two punches at Black Mask, first a straight, then an uppercut, but the villain dodged left and right to avoid them before hitting him in the gut. Weaver doubled over, coughing and trying to regain his breath. Green Lantern grabbed Black Mask and threw him against a wall. An arrow suddenly appeared in Mask's shoulder, a blinking green light at the end.  
"An arrow?" Weaver asked, confused.  
"An Arrow," Hal reassured. The arrow exploded into the same fast-hardening foam Weaver used, and Green Arrow kicked Black Mask away from him. The crime lord tried to pull his gun, but Black Canary appeared from behind him and yanked it out of his holster before he could.  
"Cuff 'em, Canary. We gotta take out Faust too," Green Lantern explained. She handcuffed Black Mask, and the four ran for Raven. She was fighting off Faust's Soulless, using whatever she could to defeat the hordes as Faust watched on. Lantern used a massive light hammer to smash a section, while Canary launched Green Arrow into the air. He fired three arrows before falling back to the roof, each of them exploding in a group of the mindless zombies. Faust directed a group of them to attack, keeping Black Canary and Nightweaver occupied. Hal flew up to him and pointed his ring at him.  
"It's over, Faust. Surrender." All the necromancer did was clap his hands. Black Adam ascended from behind him, a vicious look in his eyes.  
"Oh god," Green Lantern said, looking worried. He shook it off and generated two seaworthy ships and crashed them against each other, crushing the two. Adam threw them both out of the way and walked towards the Lantern.  
"Adam, you aren't evil. We can help you bring Isis back."  
"No you can't. Nobody can. I realize that now. Which means I just need to destroy the ones who didn't try to help." Adam punched him in the face, knocking Green Lantern to the ground. He jumped on top of him and hit him over and over, burrowing down several levels in the building before Hal could finally get up. He generated a large shield with multiple layers and pushed Adam against a wall, trying to wrap the shield around him, but Adam tore through it like it was butter.  
Hal retreated further into the building, narrowly avoiding a fist to the head from an angry Black Adam. He flew to the roof and gathered the heroes as best as he could.  
"Adam's going to use Shazam. I know he will. You all need to get out of here," he said.  
"No," Arrow said, an angry look in his eyes. "We fight to the end." He turned and shot his bow, both for emphasis and to hit a soulless creeping up on him. Lantern nodded and returned to the lower levels, surprising Adam and kicking him in the back. The villain grabbed his leg and launched him into a wall, slamming him through drywall and wood.  
"Do it, Adam. Kill me. I know you want to. You could take us all out right now."  
"Don't tempt me, Lantern!" He slammed him downwards into the floor, dropping them down another few levels. Hal kicked away and entombed Black Adam in multiple layers of hard light energy, making the ball he was trapped in larger and larger to prevent him from simply breaking it.

Bart Allen was casually walking down the street; he knew the heroes needed help, but he was in no hurry. They could hold their own. He needed to relax for a second.  
Then he saw the building they were in erupt into a massive explosion.  
"Uh oh." He entered Speed Force, slowing time to a dead stop from his perspective. He zipped to the roof, seeing three heroes and somebody he hadn't seen before flying outwards from the explosion. He gathered them all and laid them down a safe distance away. He searched the building for Green Lantern, and his heart sank.  
The Lantern had been so close to the center of the explosion that his face was already scorched. He doubted that Hal was alive, but grabbed him and raced away.

Weaver was busy fighting Faust's soulless. He had been using them as weapons to destroy each other, smashing their bodies together and doing what he could to defeat the hordes. He heard somebody yell from below, and all of a sudden, he was flying in the air.  
Then he was on the ground about four blocks away, watching the smoke rising. He looked around, confused. He saw a red blur moving, and knew what had happened instantly. Green Arrow was out cold, and Canary was holding her head. Raven seemed to be as confused as he had been a moment ago. A scarred and torn Green Lantern appeared in front of them a moment later and dropped to his knees, then slumped to the ground. The Flash looked at him worriedly.  
"Uh, anybody got some Advil or something?" he said, still staring at his friend. Raven flipped him over and checked his vitals.  
"His heart is still beating. I may be able to save him."  
"Try it. Don't hurt yourself though." She placed her hands over his chest and focused. Weaver saw the pain rush across her face and felt a pang of sympathy. He suddenly remembered his own condition, rubbing his nose. His hand came back coated in red.  
"Hey, kid. Don't know you. Got a pretty nice face wound. I think you put the bandages on a little too early, you usually wait, you know, until you get hurt."  
"That was corny. I'm Nightweaver. You can just call me Weaver."  
"Alright. You know who I am, probably. The Flash. You can just call me Flash." They shook hands and he walked to Green Arrow, who was still unconscious. He felt for his pulse, and he looked pleasantly surprised that he was still alive.  
"Canary, you've probably got a concussion. Just drink a lot of water, and don't sleep."  
"You know, normally this would be considered a failure, but we captured Black Mask and Giganta. Seems like a victory to me," Weaver said, uncharacteristically optimistic. Green Lantern sat up, rubbing his head.  
"Gah... Is everybody okay?" he asked.  
"Yeah. I got you all out alright. Arrow's out cold though, you might want to try to wake him up." Hal materialized two cymbals and crashed them right next to his head; Arrow jolted awake immediately.  
"There we go. Alright. Go retrieve the two jailbirds and we can get to the rest later." Flash nodded and zipped off, returning a moment later with Giganta and Black Mask.

"Alright. Three down," Flash said. The entire group had met up and discussed their findings; Batman and Robin had found Joker and were fighting, but the rest of them had all met up and given Lantern, Arrow, Canary and Flash the status report.  
"Sounds like a warzone," Green Arrow had commented. A screen flickered to life; nobody had done anything. Slade appeared on screen.  
"Greetings, Titans. And your assorted Justice League friends."  
"What do you want now, Deathstroke? You haven't bullied little kids enough?"  
"No, not at all. In fact, I just did the cruellest thing to one..." Slade moved and they saw Robin strapped to a table. He was gagged. Slade took a knife and slipped the edge along his arm, opening it up ever so slightly. Blood trickled from the wound.  
"I will hurt you for what you are doing to Robin!" Starfire yelled angrily.  
"You'd have to find me first, dearie."  
" Done. You're in the City Hall basement," Cyborg said flatly.  
"Or am I?"  
"You are."  
"It's not that easy."  
"Sure it is. I just triangulated your position. You're right there in the center. I can even see one of the old paintings in the background."  
"Well then. It's a party, and you're all invited. By the way..." Slade removed his mask, revealing the Joker behind it.  
"I saw one of these suits and just couldn't resist taking one! You're all so easy to trick. A few metal plates and... Oh, you get the point! See you there!" The video was terminated.  
"I hate the Joker so much."  
"I love the guy," Flash said. All eyes in the room were on him.  
"He just told us where Slade's base was. Seems like a reason to like him to me."  
"If he has Robin, then where is Batman?" Starfire asked worriedly. The Dark Knight appeared behind them, right on cue. His suit was torn and shredded, and the parts of him that they could see were bloody and bruised.  
"Jesus, Bats. You look like you went five rounds with Solomon Grundy," Flash joked.  
"I did. Doomsday, too."  
"Jesus, and you're still alive," Canary said worriedly. Raven looked at him questioningly, and Batman waved her off.  
"No need to heal me. I'm actually not that hurt. My suit has false blood packets inside of it. It makes it seem like I'm more hurt than I actually am. That way, they start getting cocky because I'm bleeding gallons, and I can take them out easily." Weaver nodded.  
"Smart. So, what do we do now?"  
"We need to eliminate Black Adam, but I don't know how we could."  
"Shazam?" Beast Boy asked.  
"Not available right now. Confidential."  
"Wonder Woman?"  
"She's gathering her Amazonians."  
"Is there nobody out there who can help us?" Raven asked.  
"I have no idea." They heard a rumbling out in the hallway.  
"Beast Boy, Nightweaver, go check it out. Come right back if there's trouble," Batman ordered. A bright, blue light was radiating off of the walls.  
"Come on, BB." He stepped shakily out into the hall; something was in the air, something otherworldly. As if the very oxygen didn't belong in this universe.  
Turning the corner, he saw three people he didn't recognize at all; one of them was floating and was glowing bright blue. He was entirely naked, save for his underwear. His eyeballs were completely white. A person in a Batman-esque suit searched around, and one in an odd white and black mask, with a trench coat and matching fedora was standing calmly, hands in his coat's pockets.  
"Who... who are you guys?" Beast Boy asked timidly. The blue one snapped his head, staring at him with a look that simultaneously put him on edge and comforted him.  
"I am Doctor Manhattan. That is Nite Owl," he said, pointing to the fake Batman, "and this is Rorschach," he said, pointing at the odd looking one. Rorschach extended a hand.  
"Why are you here?" Weaver said, eyeing his outstretched palm suspiciously.  
"Our world is in trouble. All of the villains have gathered and are trying to kill us," Nite Owl explained.  
"And they won't let me kill them back," Rorschach said. He sounded angry.  
"We are from a... Complicated place. You see, we have here what is called a multiverse. This multiverse is many, many universes, each slightly different. They branch out constantly. Your universe comes from a branch of another and another and another, and ours is on another branch connected to the main one. Our reality is much different than yours. In one reality of ours, I have killed every person alive. In this one, we require assistance so that doesn't happen."  
"You started with me, asshole," Rorschach said, turning to the Doctor.  
"You would not allow me to do what I needed."  
"I wouldn't let you kill everybody."  
"How do you know about this?" Weaver asked.  
"We went there. He just sits there, alone," Nite Owl responded flatly.  
"We must find Nite Owl and Rorschach's counterparts here. Together, we could defeat that version of myself, and release everybody from my grasp. This would resuscitate everybody that I killed and allow life to go on."  
"I see."  
"Owl looks like Batman," Beast Boy said. Weaver nodded, confirming that he had the same thoughts.  
"And Rorschach?" Nite Owl asked.  
"I have no idea. Tell me about him."  
"Well, he would need to go away for me to do that."  
"Beast Boy, bring those two to Bats. I'll talk to Nite Owl." The three trotted off down the hall.  
"Well, he's... Mentally unstable, to say the least."  
"So probably a villain here."  
"He is incredibly brilliant, tactically."  
"That shortens the list down."  
"He wears a mask, which he calls his face, by the way, never call it a mask, that shows his weakness."  
"Oh god... Go on."  
"And his mother was killed. Something about a pimp."  
"Oh god..."  
"What?"  
"It's Deathstroke."  
"Who?"  
"The main villain right now. He's missing an eye; it's his one weakness. His mask is black on one side and has no eye hole to show it. He's a genius. The man masterminds criminal operations just to screw with us. He's practically insane. He fought in Vietnam."  
"Rorschach didn't fight in Vietnam because we were already winning the war."  
"We lost here. Slade was experimented on and became immortal."  
"It sounds like they're the same person. So where is he?"  
"Surrounded by the most lethal villains and crime lords in our universe."  
"Oh, great. So no problem, then?"  
"What do you mean? We're screwed."  
"Doctor Manhattan can deconstruct them down to atoms in seconds."  
"That would work," Weaver said, smiling.  
"He only uses it if he absolutely has to."  
"Damn it, they're always like this, aren't they?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Always some catch to a powerful ability."  
"Of course. He'd be no better than them without it."  
"Weaver, I'll handle this." He felt the Dark Knight's glove on his shoulder and nodded, turning and leaving. He entered to be again blinded by Doctor Manhattan and saw Rorschach awkwardly staring at him. His mask shifted, and Weaver was about to ask why before he remembered what Owl had just told him.  
"So... Rorschach... What's with your face?"  
"Two different fabrics with liquid between."  
"Interesting."  
"You look like a wreck, kid," Weaver recalled that his face was still bloody.  
"Got in a fight. Face scratched all over the pavement."  
"Killed a guy that way once, you know."  
"Really? I've only killed people from either falling or from accidentally choking them to death."  
"You're a natural, then. You seem like you'd rather kill than capture."  
"They're just going to get back out of jail." Rorschach leaned forward.  
"You could come with us. We need somebody to help the Watchmen."  
"Watchmen?"  
"That's who we are. We have a few more members, but they stayed behind for the Comedian's funeral."  
"Who's that?"  
"An... An old friend of mine." Rorschach put his head down, and Weaver could tell that the man had been through alot in life. He put a hand on his shoulder.  
"It's alright. I'm sure that he's happy now."  
"Yeah. Wish I could be so idealistic." Weaver decided to leave him alone and went to sit in the corner on his own, deep in thought.

A/N: I know that this story hasn't gotten many views and literally no reviews. I'm not offended; it's my first story on here, so I have no pre established fan base, and I don't know what is exactly popular here (save for BBxRae, you can never seem to get enough of that!) I'd like to thank TheForce and Shadico for their feedback, and everybody who has viewed to this point. If you're sticking with the story, bear with me. I don't plan on having this be a cut and dry good versus evil. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that allegiances will shift.  
And yes, I DID have to bring in the Watchmen.  
Again, thank you all for reading and I hope you hang on with me. If you review, you get an interwebz cookie. 


	7. Chapter 7 Tornado

"Weaver! We need help NOW!" Green Arrow yelled. The Syndicate, as the collective group of villains had taken to calling themselves in the past day, had ambushed them while they were trying to capture the Joker. They'd found him, tied to a support beam in an abandoned warehouse with duct tape over his mouth. Batman had immediately spoken up.  
"That's not him."  
"How do you know?" Green Lantern asked, skeptical.  
"I can see his fingerprints."  
"I get it, you can see really far with your Bat Vision or whatever. How does that help?" Flash asked.  
"The Joker burned the pads off his fingers using acid. He has no fingerprints." The man, evidently a hostage now, began to shake his head up and down and yell; he was muffled by the tape, effectively muting him.  
"What do we do?" Robin asked his mentor.  
"We have to free him," Batman said. The man shook his head violently, then did his best to move his coat. He finally got it to the side, revealing a belt made of blocks of C4 and a wire.  
"Robin, you need to find the trigger. Take your team, except for Weaver. He could be useful to us here." The Boy Wonder nodded and took the other Titans with him, searching for the wire while Weaver used his claws to try to disarm the bomb without having to get near it.  
After several minutes, he had been unable to get the wire out of place. Batman told him to give up. Weaver did as was ordered, and the other Titans had managed to track the wire and stop the switch, allowing them to safely release the hostage.  
That's when everything crashed and burned.  
Lex Luthor was in his battle suit and he had punched the Flash in the head, pinning the speedster to the ground and proceeding to attack him viciously. Green Arrow tried to fight him off, but Lex threw him directly into the clutches of Deathstroke himself, who snapped Arrow's bow in half and was beating him with the pieces. Batman grabbed Deathstroke, who, being the better fighter, albeit barely, was able to attack back and currently had him in a corner. They unleashed their bruisers, Solomon Grundy and Doomsday, and Nightweaver was busy with Grundy. He hadn't had much time to help the others; despite his sluggishness, Grundy was no joke, and he had gotten his fair share of painful blows on him.  
The zombie roared as Weaver tried to wrap his claws around his arms and hold them back; he planned on using leverage to keep him in place. That was as far as his plan had gotten. It worked, until Grundy snapped his arms forward and broke the pillars Weaver was using for leverage. He was now in Grundy's grips, and was being flung from side to side. He tried to tase him, but Grundy simply laughed and tossed him at a wall. Weaver broke through and felt several of his ribs crack on the way through the bricks.  
"Weaver! Use the weapons on his back!" Batman yelled, still tangling with Slade.  
"But I don't want to kill him!"  
"He's immortal! He'll be back!" Nightweaver understood and stood, hand on his side. He was already aching. Grundy lunged at him, and Weaver shot his claws at the ground, extending them and launching himself into a frontflip that landed him perfectly on his back. Ripping a machete out of Solomon's fleshy back, he jabbed it into his neck, hacking and slashing until he felt it disconnect. His head hung off at an angle, and slowly, the brute fell to the ground. Weaver felt accomplished.  
Then Doomsday smashed him into a shipping crate. He punched him through one side of the crate and out the other; Weaver just barely managed to wrap his cords around a crane, swinging back to the battle. He hit the ground rolling and put pressure on his ribs for a moment, and lost his breath instantly. Doomsday attacked him before he could catch it, and he barely ducked under one of his massive fists. He kicked at him and Weaver jumped above it, punching him in the stomach. Doomsday didn't even flinch and headbutted him. He fell and managed to roll out of the way before Doomsday could stomp on him. He heard Batman yelling.  
"Raven! Get us out of here! I don't care to where!" She obliged, glad to no longer have to fight Faust. He was enveloped in her soul-self, and moments later appeared back in the safehouse. He was still on the ground, and she extended a hand to him, which he gratefully took. His ribs ached, and he held a hand to them.  
"Are you hurt?" she asked, a look of worry in her eyes.  
"Yeah. I was about dead." She placed a hand on his ribs, and he saw her eyes screw shut in pain. She opened them slowly and looked tired, but satisfied.  
"Thanks, Rae." He hugged her, and she weakly wrapped her arms around him. She looked exhausted.  
"Transporting so many people is difficult. Sorry."  
"It's fine." Batman stepped into the center of the room.  
"Alright, everybody. We're going to lay low until we get some serious reinforcements. Wonder Woman's on her way. Shazam is going to be a while, but he'll be here in a day or two. Green Lantern, can you get any other Lanterns?"  
"Afraid not. This isn't the kind of thing I'm authorized to call for backup in."  
"Alright. We'll have to make do." Weaver sat down, and Beast Boy, Raven, and Robin sat near him, the four of them occupying a corner to themselves.  
"We're in big trouble, guys. Not even Batman can do this on his own. And he's BATMAN," Beast Boy said worriedly.  
"If we stick together and help each other, we can make it through," Robin said confidently.  
"Yeah. Till they blow us all up."  
"You can protect us if they try, Raven." Weaver said, trying to be supportive. She took her hood down, and he was amazed as he always was at the color of her hair. Such a simple thing, yet he couldn't get over it.  
"Depends on the size of the explosion. Some things not even my energies can stop."  
"I believe in you," Robin said, a more serious look occupying his face.  
"It's gonna be okay, Rave. I think we can do it," Beast Boy said. Weaver could tell he was lying to try to comfort her; BB obviously forgot that she knew him.  
"Says the guy who nearly cried when they first contacted us."  
"Stop, Raven. He's trying to be nice," Weaver said, a hand on her shoulder. She glared at him and shrugged it off.  
"Being nice isn't an excuse to lie. We're never going to get out of this unless we're entirely honest with ourselves. Robin's never going to beat Slade alone. You won't, either. Maybe, MAYBE together. Faust has such a command over black magic that I struggle to hold him off. Cyborg could dismantle Lex's suit, but he would need time, and that's time we don't have."  
"Not true!" Weaver said, opening a pouch on his utility belt. He withdrew an EMP grenade, the same he used on Cyborg.  
"I hit him with one of these, Lex's suit can't even let him out until the power systems come back online. We could rip the whole thing apart, and all he'd be able to do is threaten us."  
"And call for backup."  
"I could get Slade with my net and foam grenades. Doomsday's gonna be the tricky one here. Superman's the only one who could beat him before, and he's dead now..." Batman turned and interrupted them.  
"His body is being brought to the Lazarus Pits. That's what Shazam was doing. He'll be alive again soon."  
"I thought they couldn't revive the long dead?" Robin asked.  
"There have been changes in the consistency of the chemicals. There's a grace period of about a month. Also, they can be used multiple times, now."  
"Good. We need his help," Weaver said, his face nearly hopeless.  
"Get some sleep. We're going to need Raven rested tomorrow. Flash is hurt, and Green Arrow isn't doing too well either," Batman said.  
"Where'd those Watchmen guys go?" Beast Boy asked.  
"They went to go find out more about this world so that they don't screw anything up. Seriously. Sleep." They obliged. Weaver leaned back against the wall and pulled his hood up, shading his eyes from the bright computers that Cyborg kept on to recharge. He was nodding off when he felt a pressure on his shoulder; he turned to see Raven leaning her head on his shoulder, her hood back up as well. He put his head on hers and relaxed, falling asleep after a few minutes.

The next day, Raven was woken up by Batman and got to work on healing the heroes' wounds. After an hour, everybody was looking picture perfect.  
"What's the plan?" Weaver asked groggily.  
"None, so far."  
"Alright. I'm gonna take a walk. I won't go too far from the hideout, just need to clear my head a bit." Batman nodded at him, giving his silent approval. He started to leave, and heard footsteps behind him. Raven was following him, her hood up.  
"You're coming with me?" She nodded, keeping quiet. He smiled.  
"You know you look like an idiot with your bandages all ripped up, right?"  
"I actually forgot all about them." He pulled the torn wraps off and discarded them.  
"Better?"  
"Much better." He felt his face and the scars that covered it, running his fingers over the indents in his skin.  
"Is your nose still broken?"  
"Don't think about healing it. I can function with it broken, so you aren't hurting yourself to fix it." They made their way through the tunnels, and everything was quiet, save for a few rats running around. One darted past Weaver and he jumped. Raven laughed at him.  
"Are you scared of rats or something?"  
"Deathly terrified," he admitted.  
"I heard that's how Batman got his name. He was scared of bats."  
"Are you telling me to become Ratman?"  
"No, but that would be pretty funny. I read something in a book once, and I think it could help."  
"Hmm?"  
"Don't be scared when there are rats, be scared when there aren't any."  
"Makes sense." Two rats scurried down the other side of the tunnel, squeaking at each other. Weaver spotted a light further down the tunnel and dropped to his knee, pulling Raven down next to him.  
"What is it?"  
"Light. Don't know what it is." The light continued moving down the tunnel towards them.  
Then he saw him. Slade, strolling towards their hideout.  
"How is he here?!" Raven asked, alarmed.  
"His hideout is just a ways down from ours. Don't freak out." He turned and looked right at them.  
"Okay. You can freak out now." Slade laughed.  
"Are you trying to ambush me, Titans?"  
"Yeah. Guess it didn't work too well," Weaver said, trying to keep him from figuring out where the others were hidden. He charged at the mastermind, trying to tackle him to the ground, but Slade dodged. Raven had expected it and slammed him against a wall with a massive raven's claw, pinning his torso. Weaver walked to him.  
"What now, Slade?"  
"You screw up." He pulled his boot knife out and slashed it across Nightweaver's neck. Blood shot out of his throat and he grabbed it, trying to hold in as much as he could. He wished he hadn't thrown his bandages away. Raven slammed Slade into the wall over and over, but Weaver's vision was fading in and out. Slade seemed to suddenly disappear, and he saw Raven's worried face over his own.  
"Oh god... I can't heal it! I can't do anything, no, no no no..." She had her hand just above his slit throat, trying desperately to save him.  
"Ca... Calm... down..." he coughed out. She closed her eyes and tried to regain her composure, but when they opened he saw the tears beginning to form. She kept trying and trying to heal him, and he could feel his skin and muscle occasionally begin to shift, but she couldn't stay calm long enough to focus. He reached towards her and pulled her head close to him.  
"It's... okay..." He hugged her with his free hand, and his vision began to fade. She stared into his eyes.  
"No. No, you can't. Don't!" His eyesight dimmed, and then went black.

Raven couldn't stop crying. She hadn't been able to save him when he needed her most. She felt no pulse, no signs of life inside of him. She was kneeling over him, crying. Pipes were bursting and the concrete cracked around her; her emotions were running rampant, and she had no control. She lost track of how long she sat there before she heard footsteps. Turning, she saw Robin running towards her.  
"Raven! What happened?!"  
"Slade... Slade did this," was all she managed to get out before breaking down again.  
"Slade. He'll pay." Robin wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her, trying to calm her down. After ten or so minutes of sobbing, she finally stopped.  
"Are you going to be alright, Raven?"  
"No," she said, back to her melancholic monotone. She leaned over his body and shut his eyes, his indigo irises staring lifelessly at the ceiling. Robin got up and left to tell the others what had happened, leaving her alone again. She stared at his body, feeling entirely jaded. She couldn't believe what had just happened. After the battles they had fought together, she had expected him to survive, or at least go out with a fight. He hadn't even had the opportunity to fight back; he thought that she had had Slade entirely.  
He thought that it was safe.  
She had made him think that. It was her fault. She stared at the ground, heart sinking. Robin reappeared with Batman moments later.  
"You're blaming yourself for it. Don't. It was Deathstroke's actions, not yours," Batman said in an attempt to comfort her.  
"We have only one choice. I refuse to let anybody die on my watch. I'm going to take his body to the Lazarus Pit. There's one far north of here, in Canada."  
"No," Raven said, her voice having a hint of hope and anger in it at the same time. "I'll do it. I can teleport there."  
"They need you here, Raven. And it's dangerous," Robin commented, trying to dissuade her. She turned and glared at both of them.  
"I'm going to go and revive him in the Lazarus Pit. This isn't up for debate. It will take a day at most. You'll be fine until I get back." Batman nodded.  
"I've been through things like this before, Robin. She should do it herself, even though it's smarter for her to stay here."  
"Thank you."  
"I'm going with her, then," Robin said defiantly.  
"No. We're going to be down two members already. You need to stay here. She can handle herself." Raven wrapped herself and Simon's body in energy and vanished, settling the dispute without a word. 


	8. Chapter 8 The Mission, Part 1

Raven emerged from a wormhole somewhere in northeastern Canada, towards the Arctic Circle. She didn't know the area well, and decided it would be much safer to keep on her feet to avoid accidents. She pulled her communicator out and called Batman.  
"Where's the Pit?" she asked; he was still in the tunnel, where she had left moments ago.  
"A while's away from you, northwest. Are you going to be able to make it alone?"  
"I'll be fine." She shut the lid and turned, staring at Weaver's body.  
"I have to carry it. Great." She lifted him up, carrying him in her arms. She started to slightly hover, moving faster and exerting herself less than she would have to if she was carrying the body on foot. After a while, she transitioned to levitating his body behind her, moving along and checking behind her every few minutes. She didn't know what could possibly be following her, but you never know and it's better safe than sorry. The landscape began to appear less and less grassy and more and more snowy until eventually it was nearly a whiteout. She decided to find a cave or dig a shelter and hide until the snow storm overhead passed, and found a cave easily. She sat down in it and allowed Weaver's body to lean up against a wall. Aside from the blood, he looked like he was asleep.  
She wiped the blood from his wound and tried to avoid looking at it too long, for fear of another emotional breakdown.  
"This is my mission. I have to do it. I'm not losing him, and he's not going to die because of me. How could I have been so stupid?" she muttered to herself as she used the bottom of her cloak to wipe the dried liquid. Her communicator began to vibrate and she answered it. Robin was on the other end.  
"How are you doing, Raven?"  
"Fine. I don't have any idea where this thing is but I'll find it."  
"Lazarus Pits are usually very bright, a very light green. You should be able to spot it if it's above ground. If it's underground, you'll be in a bit more trouble, but I see you're already in a cave. You might want to go exploring around in there and see if you can find one."  
"Alright, I will. Robin?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Thanks." He smiled and she shut the communicator, terminating the call. She breathed out a long sigh and started making a game plan. She needed to protect his body, but didn't want to take it along in case she was attacked. She decided to pin it to the ceiling; finding some roundish rocks, she smashed them into rough "U" shapes and slammed them into the ceiling. Then, she slid his hands and feet through them; they barely fit, but the makeshift constraints held him in place, safe from any predator that might not mind a snack.  
Her footsteps echoed as she went further into the cave. Every now and again, she would think she saw a green glow and race towards it, excited that Weaver would be saved. Most of the time, it was just sunlight filtering through the ceiling oddly; other times it was dirty water reflecting it. She kept her hopes up and kept on.  
"I need to find this. It has to be in here. This cavern goes too far to be empty."  
Several hours went by before she noticed anything, an odd, thumping sound in the distance. Something hitting something.  
Something hard hitting something hollow.  
A hammer hitting a drum. Tribal drums. People were here.  
She vanished into her soul self and moved through the stone walls, cautiously moving towards the sound. It grew closer and closer, becoming louder and more rapid, similarly to her heartbeat in her ears. She finally came out into an opening. Cultists were sitting in pews, swaying back and forth to the two heavy, muscular drummers. Between them stood one man she despised, one man she hated, one she would gladly tear to shreds.  
Brother Blood. Her blood boiled. Simply seeing him had put her at wit's end; he was no older than fourteen, yet he had nearly killed her and had hurt her friends. He motioned for the drummers to stop with a hand, then turned to his cult.  
"Brothers! Sisters! Today, we are victorious. We have a new Pit with which we can sacrifice; Trigon himself will take this pit, turn it into his own." He yanked a cloth off of something and revealed the bright, green light coming off of the violently bubbling Lazarus Pit.  
Raven had had enough.  
She released her rage, smashing everything in the room. The cultists all dropped; the sheer force of her energy was too much for them. Brother Blood, young and pathetic as he was, was still mentally stronger and stood against her.  
"Come back for more, my love?"  
"I'm not yours, and I'm only here for that pit!"  
"I heard about that with your little boyfriend. Sorry, this one's taken."  
"He's not my... That isn't a part of this! This pit belongs to nobody, least of all you. Leave, or you suffer a worse fate than your slaves."  
"They are not slaves, they are my brothers and sisters! Raven, you have to understand... You're the best thing in the world to us." He leaned forward.  
She leaned back.  
"I don't care who they are. Leave."  
"I will leave peacefully and allow you to revive him."  
"If?"  
"If you agree to be with me." She smiled.  
"Sure. I'll follow you to hell when I die." She snapped his neck, finally having had enough. She didn't feel guilty, and she didn't feel remorse; it wasn't a good feeling, but she was glad that he wouldn't bother her again.

After retrieving Weaver and bringing his body to the Pit, she called Batman.  
"What do I need to do?"  
"Dump his body in the pit. It'll do the rest. What happened? I see people everywhere."  
"There was an... Accident. Brother Blood is dead."  
"A shame. He belonged in jail, not in a morgue. Oh well. Get him back and get back here as soon as you can." She nodded and shut the communicator, then lifted Weaver's body. She placed it slowly into the pit, watching the liquid crawl up his legs, then his chest, then finally covering his head. She let go of him and he sank.  
He didn't float back up. She began to worry after nearly a minute.  
He finally splashed back up, gasping for air. He looked around in confusion, then finally fixed his eyes on her.  
"Simon..."  
"YOU!" He jumped out of the liquid and shot his grappling hooks at her, wrapping them around her neck. She was too surprised to fight back and almost lost there, but finally managed to get him off of her by using her energies to unwrap them from her throat.  
"Simon! What the hell?!"  
"You... you did this!" He fired his tasers at her and she dodged. She didn't want to dismantle his equipment, but she needed to stop him. She whipped two of the knocked out cultists and flung them at him, but he grabbed them out of the air and swung them back at her. She ducked and looked at him.  
"Simon! STOP!"  
"That's what I asked and you wouldn't!" He fired more tasers and one of them jammed itself into her cloak, an entirely ineffective strike. She grabbed his legs and flipped them out from under him and Weaver used his claws to come back down, pouncing on top of her. They came face to face, and she was staring into his eyes, nearly the same color as her cloak.  
"Simon. I know you're in there. Stop this."  
"SCREW YOU!" he shouted into her face. He reared up and tried to bring a stalactite down on her. She pushed against it, her energy against his grappling hooks.  
"Simon! Stop! I don't know what's wrong with you, but you need to stop!"  
"I will never stop!" She pulled her free hand back and punched him in his unguarded face; he fell over backwards, grabbing his head. Both of his claws retracted into their housing.  
"Fuck! What was that for?" he asked, looking at her. She saw the look in his eyes; it changed back into what he normally looked like.  
"You weren't yourself. Probably a side effect of the Lazarus Pit."  
"Lazarus?"  
"It's complicated. But you were dead."  
"And you saved me?"  
"I did."  
"Why?" She kept silent and looked down. He got up and walked to her, putting both his hands around her shoulders. He tried to look at her as sincerely as he could.  
"Why, Raven? You guys don't need me. I caused all this."  
"Because I do need you." He hugged her and held her hooded head close to his chest. After holding her like that for a few minutes she pulled back and looked at him.  
"Do you remember what happened?"  
"I know that it was Slade. And I got my throat slit." He rubbed across his neck and felt the bump, a faint scar where the wound was only minutes ago. "What else?"  
"Well... That's probably best saved for until we're actually safe."  
"Good choice," they heard from the entrance to the room. Lex Luthor was standing in the doorway, his suit taking up the entire entrance. He fired rockets at the two; Raven moved aside quickly and avoided the missile. Weaver grabbed two from out of the air and redirected them towards Luthor, who blocked them with a force field. The explosion did nothing to him or his suit, and he smirked.  
"For two of the Titans who fought off Deathstroke, I expected more." He shot containment fields at both of them while their guards were down, encasing them in fields of energy. Raven burst out of hers easily, thanks to her magic, but Nightweaver couldn't seem to get out.  
"Nice playing with you, girl. I'll be in touch." He loaded Weaver into his suit and took off, disappearing down the tunnel system and escaping before Raven could follow. She cursed and stomped on the ground before slumping down and burying her head in her hands. 


	9. Chapter 9 The Mission, Part 2

"You bastard, Luthor! I'm gonna kick your ass..." Weaver said as he tried to break out of his restraints. Luthor stared at him.  
"Silly child. You fight for people who would sooner see you in jail."  
"Raven just risked her life to save mine."  
"Because they need you to catch us. They don't care about you."  
"Is that what you think?"  
"Absolutely."  
"Good. 'Cause I don't give a rat's ass what you think. They'll be here for me soon."

"I lost him, Robin."  
"What do you mean, Raven?"  
"Luthor showed up and took us off guard. He's their prisoner now."  
"Do you know where they went?"  
"I have no clue..."  
"We'll get him back, Raven. Did he have his communicator?"  
"He didn't have a GPS chip."  
"Damn... It might be a while. How are you holding up?"  
"I don't know. It might not be safe for me to come back."  
"Do what you need to do. We'll be waiting for you when you get back."  
"Thanks." She shut the communicator and sat in the cave. It wasn't like her to just sulk like this, but she felt terrible. She should have been able to catch Luthor, should have saved him. He wasn't in his right mind yet and he wasn't ready to fight. It was her fault, all over again.

"An interesting trophy, Lex... I like it," Slade hissed, staring at Weaver from his chair. His hideout had been transformed into a sort of metal throne room; he was leaned over, one hand on his chin.  
"Screw. You."  
"You do realize that they aren't coming for you, right? They don't care that we have you. You're literally down the hall from them and they aren't coming for you."  
"How do you...?"  
"You think I didn't notice that you two were so close? You haven't moved in five years. You've doomed them all."  
"We'll beat you! We'll beat all of you!"  
"You poor, poor idiot. You think this is about us and them? It isn't. It's about *you*."  
"What?"  
"I've been tracking you since you were figuring out what puberty was. I care about you. They don't! They want to use you to further their goals, and then they'll throw you away like used trash! You ARE trash! You were homeless until you became a pawn in their game! Why would they try to save a lowly thief who isn't even dangerous enough to steal anything worthwhile?"  
"You don't know anything about any of them!"  
"Do you want proof, Nightweaver? Do you? Because if you forced one thought through your thick skull, it would all make sense!"  
"What could you possibly have?"  
"You've been here for a month. Four weeks. Four! They haven't made one move to save you. In fact, they haven't even tried to attack!" Weaver's heart dropped like a rock.  
"No. You're lying. I've been awake."  
"That containment field releases drugs periodically. You've been asleep for all but what you remember. They're just sitting in your little hideout. Joking about you. Making fun of how you got captured."  
"That can't be true. Batman wants to help everybody. Raven cares about me too much to abandon me like that... Robin and I are friends."  
"You're nothing to them."  
"Raven, are you sure you're alright?" She had returned, and Robin had noticed her sulking in a corner.  
"He was everything to me."  
"What do you mean?"  
"He was our hope, our fight. He never gave up. He trusted all of us, trusted me to keep him safe... I trusted him to keep me safe. And now he's gone because of me."  
"He isn't gone. He's trapped. That's entirely temporary."  
"I still couldn't save him."  
"You're under a lot of emotional distress." He could feel the air get thicker as she started to get irritated. "Calm down."  
"Don't tell me to calm down!" she snapped. One of the computer monitors shattered, the glass falling to the floor.  
"Raven, we're going to save him. We just need to find him. It's my top priority, I promise." He put a supportive hand on her shoulder and squeezed, trying to force some of the anger out of her. She calmed down a bit, but still looked like she felt guilty. Cyborg piped up.  
"Got a general area scan of where he is. Without the GPS it's hard to tell, but the communicators send out a weak signal constantly. He's within the next ten miles." Her eyes softened with hope momentarily, but faded back.  
"Ten miles is a pretty big area, Cyborg."  
"We'll search every inch."  
"There's no point."  
"Are you saying you want to give up on this now?"  
"People come, and people go. There's nothing you can do to stop it."  
"Don't talk like that," Beast Boy said. He had overheard the conversation and walked over. "He's not exactly my favorite guy in the world, but he's a good person. We're gonna find him."  
"I'm not getting my hopes up. Stop trying."

"They haven't been sitting around for a month."  
"Raven never loved you. She's been with that green bug this whole time."  
"She wouldn't lie to me. She said she needed me."  
"Needed you to catch us! She didn't lie, you misunderstood!" Weaver kicked the energy orb that surrounded him, to no avail.  
"I'm sick of this talk. Open this up and fight me, you coward." Slade laughed.  
"Be careful what you wish for." He grabbed a remote and pressed a button, turning the field off. Weaver pulled himself towards the mercenary but Slade backhanded him in midair. He fell to the ground and rolled, standing and sliding but facing his nemesis. He tried to tase Slade, but he batted the darts away with extraordinary precision. Weaver tried to punch him, but Deathstroke grabbed his arm, twisted it, then headbutted him in the nose. He felt a crunch.  
His damn nose had broken. Again.  
He aimed low and tried to hit Slade in the stomach; his attack did nearly nothing to the villain. He punched Weaver twice, then tripped his legs out from under him. He hit his head hard and blinked, trying to get the stars out of his vision.  
When he came to, he was eye-to-barrel with a shotgun.  
"You have two choices. Join us, and I spare you. Defy us, I blow your brains out this very moment."  
"Why should I join you?"  
"They left you to die. I'm offering you a chance to come back to your true calling."  
"Screw off, Slade. I'd rather die."  
"Very well." He pumped the shotgun, and Weaver closed his eyes. He heard the shot, and everything got dark again.  
But not entirely dark. Opening his eyes, he saw a plate of dark energy standing between his face and the shotgun. Turning, he saw Raven standing in the doorway, ready to fight.

A/N No, I couldn't resist a mid fight scene cliffhanger.  
I also couldn't resist pointing it out, cause I'm self indulgent.  
Hope you're enjoying! 


	10. Chapter 10 The Mission, Part 3

Raven was standing in the doorway, her cloak flowing around her. She had just saved Weaver's life again by seconds. All eyes in the room were on her; Doomsday, Lex Luthor, Deathstroke and Two-Face all glared at her.  
Nightweaver took no time to relax and disarmed Slade, putting the shotgun to his stomach and pulling the trigger. He was sent to the ground, clutching his injury. There was no blood; he had most likely been wearing several sets of bulletproof armor. Lex tried to crush Weaver, but he was stopped when Raven encased his arm in energy and snapped the robotic limb off. Luthor turned and looked at her in surprise.  
"Don't. Touch. Him." He ignored her and tried to punch Weaver again. She tore his other arm off and ripped the suit in half; the billionaire collapsed out of his shell, landing on his hands and knees.  
"BIZARRO LOVES NEW FRIENDS!" Raven ducked as the clone sent himself flying over her head and into the ground, leaving a small crater and burying his fist. Raven looked at Weaver and pointed to his eyes; he nodded. She calmed his mind and he focused on the confused man. They simultaneously shot ice out of their eyes at each other, meeting between them. A wall of crystallized water formed where the streams met. Weaver took the opportunity to stop firing and burst through, catching Bizarro off guard. He punched him several times, only succeeding in forcing him to stumble back a few steps before he unleashed his own attack, a haymaker that sent him soaring across the room. Two-Face caught him and held him by the arms.  
"Uh oh... Looks like double trouble."  
"You are SO lame." He elbowed him in the face and punched him in the stomach, grappling him and tossing him at Bizarro, who had begun to charge towards him. Raven was keeping Doomsday down, hitting him with energy blast after energy blast. Bizarro batted his ally to the side and tackled Weaver, who was forced underneath him. The two grappled for a moment before Bizarro forced his hands to the ground and headbutted him. He was then lifted off, looking behind him with a surprised look on his face.  
Superman was standing behind him, staring the failed clone in the eye.  
"You're done." He punched him several times and smashed him into the ground, beating the fight out of Bizarro in seconds. Deathstroke tried to kick the Man of Steel, but he grabbed his legs and spun around, slamming Slade into a wall. Shazam was helping Raven hold off Doomsday until Superman could help. Slade had been knocked out entirely.  
Batman and the others charged through the door, staring at the carnage. Doomsday interrupted their brief pause, flinging Shazam into Raven and sending them both tumbling to the floor. Weaver ran to Raven and sat her up, checking if she was alright. She nodded to him and blasted Doomsday again. Shazam and Superman both punched him, sending the hulk stumbling back, but he kept his feet under him. They fought back and forth, Doomsday taking on the entire group single handedly, and occasionally coming close to defeating them. Suddenly, he stopped, and stared behind them.  
The group turned and looked at what he was looking at. Slade was standing, his arms behind his back and his head angled sinisterly. Black Adam was standing behind him.  
"Do it."  
"SHAZAM!"

Weaver woke up in what looked like the epicenter of the explosion. He could see the sky, smoke billowing into the heavens above, and looked around. He saw scattered bodies, and his mind started to race. He began a mental checklist.  
Flash. Check.  
Batman. Check.  
Superman. Nowhere to be found. Probably fine.  
Same for Shazam.  
Robin was hurt, but alive.  
Beast Boy was breathing, but shallowly.  
Cyborg hadn't been hurt too badly, because he was outside the room spraying Doomsday down with his cannon.  
Arrow and Canary, check.  
Green Lantern was fine.  
He couldn't find Raven.  
He rushed to Cyborg and grabbed him by the shoulders.  
"Where is she?!"  
"I don't know, man." He saw another explosion in the distance and raced towards it, abandoning Cyborg. He began running towards the edge of the crater. Weaver came over the lip and saw another, smaller one. Superman, Shazam, Black Adam, Raven and Doomsday were still fighting it out.  
Shazam threw a punch at Black Adam, knocking his nemesis to the ground. He kneeled over him and hit him again and again, prompting a spout of blood from his nostrils. Doomsday smacked Superman and sent him flying into Shazam, disabling them both temporarily. He began to reach for Raven, hovering nearby and trying to hold him back.  
Weaver shot a grappling hook at his arm and grabbed it. He pulled himself closer and swung around him, wrapping his left arm to his back. The beast roared and tried to grab the long cord, but Weaver's spin proved to be just a hair too fast. He came around and kicked Doomsday dead in the face, sending him stumbling. He tased the metal cable, electrifying and stunning Doomsday.  
"Superman! How do we get rid of him?!"  
"I don't know. I don't know."  
"Well figure it out!" Weaver got hit, sending him soaring across the battlefield. Raven softened his fall, but couldn't take away the impact of Doomsday's massive hand. Green Lantern had woken up, and he looked at Raven.  
"Do we need to do this?" he asked her.  
"I think so." The Green Lantern encased Doomsday in green energy, and Raven wrapped around that with black energy. The two ascended skywards, disappearing far into the depths of space. They flew as fast as they could, reaching Mercury before tossing Doomsday towards the sun. He screamed in rage, but they couldn't hear him through the vacuum of space.

Back on Earth, Weaver watched as Hal Jordan and Raven descended towards their group. Nearly everybody had woken up, save for Beast Boy, who was still knocked out cold. Most of the villains had vanished. The Joker was nowhere to be found; he had actually played a very small role in the whole plan. Doomsday was gone, and Deathstroke was either dead or badly injured. Not the happiest of endings, but they did what needed to be done. Raven lowered herself next to him and Simon hugged her immediately, glad that she was alive. The worry he had felt for her earlier had gnawed at him quickly, and he was happy that she was okay.  
"So, what now?" the Flash asked to nobody in particular.  
"It seems like we've won for now," Batman said. His cowl had been torn and pieces of his body armor were gone; he hadn't been injured himself too badly from the blast, but his armor had taken most of it. The armor plates on Weaver's leggings had been decimated, leaving only the pants themselves behind. His hoodie, miraculously, took no damage. Either that, or it was already so tattered he didn't notice it.  
Raven had a large tear in her cloak, from about halfway up down to the bottom, causing it to split entirely. Her hood was ripped in the back slightly, but was otherwise undamaged. Shazam and Superman both had large pieces of their outfits missing, mostly from fighting Doomsday. His spines had shredded through clothes and flesh alike. The Flash was badly injured; his arm seemed to be broken. Most of the Titans were alright; they had been towards the back of the blast, not causing much damage.  
"Slade's rolling in his grave," Robin said confidently.  
"Wherever the body is," Weaver commented absentmindedly. He was thinking about other things at the moment.  
"Should we... find it?" Raven asked, somewhat awkwardly.  
"No. He doesn't deserve any kind of respect," Robin said angrily before stalking off. Cyborg was rubbing the back of his head. Beast Boy was still asleep, snoozing happily despite how he became unconscious.  
The adult heroes and the Titans parted ways; Batman and Superman were both badly needed in their cities, Green Lantern had to report the incident, and Green Arrow was worried about Black Canary, who had seemingly vanished. The Flash sped off without an explanation, leaving the six alone again. The Watchmen vanished soon after Black Adam's explosion, seemingly content now that Deathstroke appeared to be dead. Cyborg tossed Beast Boy over his shoulder, and they went home.

They found the tower a mess; after spending an hour cleaning, all of them settled down on the couch and just turned on the T.V. Even Raven watched; she was too tired and stressed to read. She was sitting next to Weaver, who had fallen asleep as soon as they got home. He had arguably, been through the worst of all of them. Eventually, one by one, they got up and went to bed on their own, but Raven stayed back and curled up on the couch, falling asleep with Weaver.

Nightweaver woke up with a start; he'd been having a nightmare. Somebody was following him. Not chasing him; he wasn't running. They were following him. No matter where he went, the person was there. He couldn't see the person, but he knew.  
He spotted Raven, curled up in a ball on the couch across from him, fast asleep. He was glad that she'd decided not to retreat all the way to her room, but was curious as to why exactly she'd stayed out with him. He decided not to wake her up and went to the fridge, poured himself a soda, and drank it in silence. His mind wasn't at ease; things weren't entirely right. He had to solve the puzzle that was her mind and figure out what exactly was going on in there if he ever wanted to have a real chance. He became happy at the thought of them together, but he had a feeling in the back of his mind that it would never happen.  
"I know you're awake, Simon," she said groggily from the couch. She sat up and turned around to look at him.  
"Couldn't stay asleep."  
"Neither could I. I've got a bad feeling."  
"Like somebody was forgotten, right? Like we haven't taken in everybody?"  
"Yeah. Somebody's missing from this equation."  
"If only the Wonder Bitch had showed up with her backup, I wouldn't have been killed. That's odd to say."  
"She isn't exactly the most dependable."  
"She's kinda boring, too. She has the same powers as Superman, but watered down."  
"Exactly."  
"And Supe's boring too. Always the Kryptonite. And there's always some pretty, conveniently placed girl there to take it away." She laughed a little, but her face got serious.  
"I think we need to do a death count. No heroes died in the explosion, from what I saw. Slade was point blank, ground zero. He had to have died."  
"It's Slade. He's too thoughtful."  
"Maybe. You killed Solomon Grundy."  
"He'll be back."  
"Green Lantern and I hopefully killed Doomsday."  
"Yeah."  
"Joker's just gone. Superman killed Bizarro, I think. If not him, then Adam."  
"Bizarro won't just die. He loves us all too much."  
"True, true. I guess there was only one death that mattered a lot."  
"Yeah, Slade's was pretty big."  
"I'm not talking about his."  
"Raven, it's not that big of a deal. Even if you hadn't saved me, I wouldn't blame you one bit."  
"Even though it was my fault."  
"It. Wasn't. Your. Fault. Jesus. Christ. Woman."  
"I shouldn't have tried a raven's claw. Just a block of energy to hold him. Then his hands and legs wouldn't have been free, and he wouldn't have cut you."  
"I shouldn't have taunted him. That was all me." He finished his drink and walked to her, standing behind her, behind the couch.  
"So you blame yourself for dying?"  
"It's neither of our faults. It's Slade's. He did it."  
"He attacked us like that because we let you join. I was the one that campaigned to get you to join. Therefore, it was my fault."  
"I was the one that asked to join. Mine."  
"Mine."  
"We aren't about to have this argument."  
"Fine. So what now?"  
"Go to bed, Raven. We can talk in the morning."  
"I don't want to just leave you out here alone, though."  
"I'll be fine. It's Titan's Tower. Nothing will happen. I know you're probably paranoid about getting attacked, but-"  
"I don't want to be alone right now. That's what I mean." Weaver seemed surprised.  
"So you want to stay out here because of me?"  
"Yeah. The others would think I'm being weird. If I stay here they think I just passed out like you did."  
"Alright. Night, Rae."  
"Night, Simon." The two fell asleep, still on opposite ends of the couch. 


	11. Chapter 11 Trouble in Paradise

Raven stretched high, the first one awake in the tower besides Robin. She wasn't even entirely she he went to sleep.  
Weaver was still passed out, his mouth open and one arm hanging off the side of the couch. She took a moment to laugh at him before going and making her tea, trying to stay quiet. He needed his sleep.  
She decided that, while he was still asleep, she may as well do something nice for him. She went and woke up Cyborg, yanking his charging cord out and smacking him around a little.  
"Ow!... Yo, Rae, what's up with you? You don't usually want to talk or anything."  
"I need something."  
"Define 'something'."  
"I'd need to show you. Come on." They worked on her project for hours before it was finally complete, welding and soldering pieces of alloy together.

Weaver had woken up, but was still laying there like he was asleep.  
Beast Boy's head poked up over the back of the couch. Weaver kept his eyes closed, knowing that BB wanted revenge for the marble prank. The changeling laughed and ran off, loudly getting something from the fridge. He took his chance to move.  
Several minutes of silence went by before he spotted BB again; he was behind the couch with the same can of marbles. Amateur.  
He poured the marbles over the back of the couch, spilling them onto the cushions where Weaver had been. He laughed to himself as Weaver snuck around the couch, silently stepping up next to him. Beast Boy, puzzled looked over the couch and saw that Weaver was nowhere to be found. Weaver quickly tied his shoelaces together and darted off, making sure that he wasn't spotted.  
Beast Boy tried to walk away and find him and tripped immediately, falling flat on his face. Weaver laughed at him loudly, much to BB's embarrassment.  
"Bull! You were... You were right there! How did you dodge that?!"  
"Uhh... Life hacks." Raven entered the room and saw Beast Boy flat on the floor with Weaver laughing at him and smiled.  
"Simon, Cyborg and I got something together for you. Come on." He followed her down the halls.  
"What is it?"  
"Wait and see."  
"What isssssss ittttttt?"  
"Wait."  
"What is it what is it what is it what is it what is it WHAT IS IT?!"  
"Wait!" she said, laughing at his immaturity. She stopped in front of her door. "Close your eyes."  
"Uhhh... No."  
"Please? Just do it."  
"Fine." He shut his eyes and she led him in. He felt her lay him down on some kind of diagonal platform, almost like an operating table but nearly standing up.  
"Can I open them now?"  
"Afraid not. Just wait." He felt something wrap around his legs and had to resist the extreme temptation to snap his eyes open.  
"This. Is weird. Very weird."  
"You'll like it, trust me." She removed his grappling hooks, the two wrist blasters coming off with the click of a lock. He felt her slide some kind of gauntlet onto his hand. It extended all the way up his forearm, and stopped just short of the elbow. His fingers felt exposed to the air, however.  
Finally, she placed something over his face. It went from his chin to his nose, angling down just short of his eyes. It was killing him that he couldn't look.  
"Please?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I'm done." He opened his eyes; she was standing in front of him with a mirror. He took it and looked himself over.  
"I look pretty badass, actually!" His greaves were very much like Batman's, but each armor plate had a faint, blood red trim around it. His chest was still largely unguarded; typically, if he got hit in the chest, he was going to hurt, armor or not. His gauntlets did, as he suspected, extend up to his elbows. His hooks had been compacted and made more space-efficient, and now packed six tasers for each hand.  
His facemask went up to the nose and sloped down, like one would expect from a ninja's face wrap. It, too, had blood red lining, and it fit perfectly with his hood.  
"Where'd you get all this?"  
"Cyborg helped me. He has a lot of spare metal. And he can practically bend it into shape."  
"Thanks. Seriously, I mean it. This is an upgrade that I needed. Long overdue. Now I need to find something to do for you."  
"Well... No, nevermind. Not now. But look, you don't need to do anything. When the time comes, I'll let you know." He smiled at her, not used to having a mask on.  
"Only problem with masks. No facial expressions."  
"Want to see something really cool?"  
"Hmm?" She grabbed his right hand and tapped a button on it that blended in with the armor. He hadn't even noticed it. The mask slid into three different parts, moving down and to the side to reveal his face.  
"That's pretty cool. That's really cool, actually. Now I can eat and... Other stuff." He smiled awkwardly.  
"Yeah. Other stuff." They awkwardly left her room, stepping out into the hall.  
"Seriously, thanks. I need to do something for you. Anything you want, you know I've got your back."  
"Sure."  
"Until the day I die."  
"Again?" she said, a slight smile spread across her face.  
"Yeah. And then if you save me again I'll owe you again, so it's kinda like a neverending cycle."  
"This is going too deep."  
"Fine. So what now?"  
"Just find something to do and relax. We just swept pretty much everybody off of the map."  
"Can never be too sure, Raven."  
"We're gonna be fine." The alarm went off as she said that, causing her face to flush.  
"Okay, I guess not." They ran to the common room and arrived at nearly the same time as the others. Robin was already in there, having analyzed everything.  
"Red X. He's in the industrial district."

The heroes arrived there quickly; Robin and Cyborg had both gone in their vehicles, Starfire and Raven flew, Beast Boy had turned into a cheetah and was running, and Weaver was swinging his way through the city. Robin arrived first, skidding to a stop and turning his motorcycle sideways and jumping off. He spotted Red X immediately, entering a warehouse calmly and not paying any attention to the six teenagers.  
"Titans! Go!" he yelled. Weaver zipped to the door and stuck to the wall above the door. Flipping upside down, he poked his head in and looked around. He heard some grunts, what sounded like two men fighting, but couldn't see anything. Robin rushed in under him, prompting him to swing into the building. Jumping past several containers, he landed right where the action was happening. Red X was kneeling on top of a security guard, hitting him in the chin. When he was satisfied the man wasn't going to interfere, he got up.  
"Nice to meet you. Can't stay." He tried to rush out, but Weaver heard Cyborg's cannon. He checked on the officer.  
"Are you alright, sir?"  
"Yeah... I'll be fine."  
"Thanks for holding him, uhh...?"  
"Terry. Terry McGinnis."  
"Thanks, Officer McGinnis. Just relax. Help is here." He arched his back and pulled himself over the containers. Red X had retreated outside, near some racks filled with building materials. Cyborg jammed a metal rod into the ground, narrowly missing X. The thief grabbed it and used it to swing himself around and kick Cyborg in the face. He landed as Beast Boy tried to capture him as a T-Rex and jumped onto his head, running up his back. Weaver fired both of his grappling hooks at him, but two large X's grew out of his gloves. He swung down with one hand and up with the other, knocking both of them off course.  
Cyborg had stood and fired his cannon, narrowly missing Red X. Robin jumped high and threw three discs at him, which all exploded into smoke. The battle stopped for a second.  
"Did... you get him?" Beast Boy asked, transforming back into a human. X leapt out of the smoke and kicked him in the stomach.  
"I'm not that easy, kid!" He slapped an X onto BB's chest, which erupted into goo that stuck him in place. Robin swung at him with a birdarang, which X blocked by crossing his katars. He kicked Robin in the stomach and ducked as Cyborg fired another volley at him, narrowly dodging him again. Raven threw two steel rods at him and he dove over them, rolling and coming all the way up right in front of her.  
"Hey, sunshine. Been a while. I was worried about you." He slapped an X onto her mouth and ran off, only to be stopped by Starfire.  
"Uh oh. Both my girls. Man, am I in trouble." She fired her starbolts at him, and he jumped side to side to avoid. Running under her, he threw another X up and stuck her hands together, effectively halving her firepower. Running on a wall, he passed behind Cyborg and threw another X at him; it exploded into electricity, shutting down the metal man's systems. Weaver shot his hooks at him yet again, but X weaved between them and stuck them to the ground. He stood between them, smirking.  
"You're new. I'm Red X, and you're the guys who get their butts whooped every time we fight."  
"Not this time." He drew his cords in as fast as possible, yanking himself towards the villain. He kicked him in the chest and landed on top of him, his knee in his sternum.  
"Nice move. Gotta go." He vanished out from under Weaver, re-appearing several feet away. Before he could move, X shot his feet and stuck him to the ground.  
"Good try, kids. Keep trying, maybe one day you'll make me break a sweat." Robin got up, the last one still fully capable.  
"I'm going after him! You guys get yourselves free!" Raven glared at him as he ran off, wondering how exactly he intended for them to do that.

"You left us to fend for ourselves!" Cyborg yelled at Robin.  
"He was getting away!" Robin responded. The two had been bickering for over an hour in the common room while everybody else tried to just relax.  
"If you had freed all of us, we coulda caught his scrawny ass!"  
"If I had taken the time to, he'd have gotten away!"  
"He DID get away, you moron!"  
"I was TRYING to capture him! Maybe if you weren't so dependent on your electronic side you could have been too!"  
"Sorry that there was a damn lab accident that I had no control over!" Dark energy surrounded both of their mouths; Raven had gotten sick of the yelling.  
"Robin, you're wrong. You already know you can't beat X on your own. Cyborg, don't threaten to quit again." She released them and left, stalking off to her room. Robin looked at Weaver.  
"Well, aren't you going to follow your girlfriend?" he said, his voice dripping with hate.  
"Don't blame me because you're an asshole. And she isn't my girlfriend."  
"Fine. Follow your master, lapdog."  
"Says the sidekick."  
"I'm not just Batman's sidekick anymore."  
"No, you're also an angry little bitch that can't stand the fact that he screwed up."  
"Friends, can we please stop the fighting?" Starfire asked, sad that everybody was angry.  
"It's not a fight, Star. It's a man taking shit from a boy." Robin walked off, and Starfire followed him, trying to calm him down. Weaver huffed and put his head in his hands. Cyborg walked up behind him and put a large hand on his shoulder.  
"It's cool, dude. He gets irritated whenever we lose a criminal, and especially if he screwed up. He'll apologize at some point."  
"Good. I probably should, too. I wasn't exactly nice."  
"Don't worry about it. He pushed you around, you just pushed back."  
"Yeah, I guess."  
"Go on, get to Raven. I know you want to." He looked at Cyborg oddly, then got up and went to her door. He knocked on it, hoping she wasn't too angry.  
"What?"  
"Rae, it's me."  
"Fine." He entered and saw her on her bed, her knees up and leaning against the headboard. She had her hood up, still, and he'd learned that she used it somewhat as a mask to protect herself.  
"You alright?"  
"I just hate it when they fight like that. I'm fine."  
"He went off on me after you left, too. He can be a real jerk sometimes."  
"Tell me about it. I mean, he's a good leader for the most part, but sometimes he really oversteps his boundaries."  
"Really shouldn't have said that about Cyborg. That was just wrong."  
"Somebody needs to remind him we don't have to be here. Remind him that we're his friends, not his puppets."  
"Problem is, he won't take it from any of us."  
"I know one person he will take it from, though." 


	12. Chapter 12 Ghosts of the Past

**A/N; By suggestion, I'm going to be slightly changing the format of the stories. Hopefully it'll make them easier to read. Thanks to everybody who's read so far! The reviews I've gotten really keep me going, even if they are few in number. I appreciate it, alot. I'm keeping this going for you guys. You're the life of this story! Thanks again. Okay. Gonna shut up now.**

"Look, Bats. We need some help."

"What's wrong, Nightweaver?"

"Robin's been acting like, for lack of a better word, an asshole lately. What can we do to get him to feel better?"

"Actually, this is perfect... I recently had a visitor from the distant future. It's a complicated situation, but he's only seventeen, and I think being in a team like the Titans could help him. He'll also be a direct line from me to you, so if Robin continues like this, we can figure out what's wrong. Tell him that after I send him in, I'll leave you all alone. That may be part of the problem."

"Thanks. And hey, do you want your leggings back?"

"No. I've had several upgrades since you stole them. They're outdated. Thanks for the offer. Batman out." The video feed terminated. Raven had been sitting to the side of Weaver, out of the camera's range.

"So? Do you know who this person is?"

"No idea at all." The red lights came on and the alarm went off.

"No time to figure it out!" he yelled, rushing to the common room with Raven only a few feet behind him. They made it into the room and saw everybody gathered around Beast Boy.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I CAN'T FIND THE REMOTE!" Robin facepalmed.

"Beast Boy, I told you to stop using the alarm for that." He walked away, leaving the others alone. The skies outside opened up into a torrent of rain; a storm had been brewing for days, and the lightning was frequent.

"Great."

"Dude, I NEED to find the remote!"

"Beast Boy, shut up," Raven said coldly. His ears sank and he looked sad. The five of them all looked towards the center of the room, stressed out and angry at each other. Lightning flashed again, and then the lights went out.

"Wonderful," Raven said, her mood dropping like a rock. The lights flashed back on.

Slade was standing in the middle of the room, just behind the couch, the remote dangling from his fingers.

"Miss me?" The lights went out again, and when they came back on, Slade was gone. They looked at each other, wide eyed. Beast Boy was the first to speak.

"Was that...?"

"Yeah, man. It was."

"SON OF A BITCH!" Weaver yelled. He ran off to get Robin, leaving the others in the

common room. He reached the Boy Wonder's room and flung the door open; he was sitting on his bed, polishing birdarangs.

"What?!" he snapped.

"Slade..." he said, breathing heavily from sprinting.

"Stop trying to mess with me! I know you don't like me."

"I'm... being... serious..."

"Where is he, then?"

"Don't know... vanished."

"I'll talk to the others. If you're screwing with me, then I'm not gonna be happy."

"I'm not." They walked to the common room and found everybody but Raven present.

"Was he really here?" Robin asked flatly.

"Yeah, man. Dude was sittin' right in the middle of the room with the remote," Cyborg said, confirming Weaver's claim to Robin. He simply put his hand on his chin and nodded.

"Slade, Slade, Slade..." He walked towards his office and shut the door. There was an extremely loud click as he locked it.

"Well then," Weaver said.

"He always gets like that with Slade. He's obsessed," Beast Boy said.

.

"He is only trying to capture the Slade before he can cause more damage to us."

"True. Kid needs to relax, is all," Weaver commented as he walked to find Raven. He

knocked, and she opened it. He was surprised she hadn't checked who it was first, but decided not to complain. She was holding a white cloak, the same as her blue one.

"What's that?"

"It's the cloak I came out wearing when I beat my father."

"Why exactly is it white?"

"It's supposed to symbolize that I'd reached the next level. That I was more powerful, more controlled. I didn't pick it. I just know."

"So why did you take it off?"

"Because of things like what happened with Slade."

"The little vanishing act?"

"No. When he killed you, I couldn't control myself. I can't wear this until I can."

"That's a shame. White would look good on you," he said, smiling; his mask was off. She smiled back for a second, then looked back down at it.

"Look, Rae. I know we haven't known each other for years, at least not as friends, but you know that you're my best friend, right? I believe in you. You'll get there, one day. Don't let it put you down now." She smiled and, looking back at it one last time, put the cloak back up in her closet.

"Thanks. So did Robin go and run into his office?"

"Yeah, he went in there and locked the door."

"It's just Slade. We've fought him before, we'll fight him again. He doesn't seem to like the idea of going away."

"He's probably got some personal vendetta or something. What do you know about him?"

"He's a mercenary and bounty hunter. Highly trained. Some kind of regenerative powers. And he can beat the hell out of Batman." Weaver's eyes widened for a moment.

"Batman? Seriously? Wow."

"Makes you wish he'd died in Adam's explosion, right?"

"It's a miracle that we've got our limbs. I think we got all we could have asked for."

"Faust's got a history of tapping Adam's powers to amplify his own. His attack could have been worse."

"The villains are so uncoordinated."

"And we were? We got out of there by luck."

"And Batman, he's kinda like divine intervention at this point," he joked. The lights flashed red yet again. Rushing to the common room had become routine at this point. Cyborg was at the console.

"Red X. Robin said to go on without him. He's on some sort of Slade lead."

"Figures," Raven muttered. The five traveled to where X had been spotted; and ancient history museum in downtown Jump.

They arrived to find the museum nearly empty. Nightweaver recognized the situation; attract the Titans and hide until their arrival.

"Stick together," he whispered, just loud enough for the others to hear. Starfire looked at Cyborg questioningly, and he nodded back to her to listen to him. They walked down the corridors together, eventually reaching an ancient animals exhibit. Red X was reclining, his back on the side of a stuffed sabertooth tiger.

"Nice to see you guys again. I got lonely, figured I'd see how you were doing."

"X, just come along peacefully. We don't have to fight," Raven said, knowing that her attempt was useless.

"C'mon, Sunshine. We aren't fighting, we're just messing around." He got up slowly, rising to his full height. His cape was more tattered than before. Weaver held Cyborg's cannon arm down just before he fired.

"What happened to your cape? Who'd you fight?" Red X crossed his arms and looked at Nightweaver quizzically.

"What's it matter to you?"

"Because frankly, I'd rather fight anybody else than you."

"Forget it. I don't play the hero. And I'm not a snitch."

"We could get you payment."

"Now THAT'S what I like to hear."

"Just talk to me. Who?"

"Tell you what. I'll give you some hints if you let me get out of here, and then I'll transmit who exactly later."

"We may need your help to take him down."

"Who said it was a him?"

"Good point. I see long scratches in your cape. Catwoman?"

"You're close, kid. Too close."

"Wait! Just tell us who and where."

"Catgirl. Top of the radio station." Red X waved nonchalantly and vanished into thin air. Cyborg looked at him.

"X was the target. Not Catgirl."

"No way we're beating him without Robin. Catgirl, we may have a chance on."

"True."

Raven teleported the five to a tall building near the radio station; using his advanced optics, Cyborg checked around the roof.

"Kid was telling the truth. She's just sitting there, looking all bored."

"Like she's waiting?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, but for what?

"Who cares?" Beast Boy commented, crossing his arms. "I'm bored. Let's just get her."

"She could be meeting a contact, idiot. Better to wait," Cyborg said, giving Beast Boy a disapproving glare.

"I'm with BB. Better to get her before she leaves."

"I agree with the green one as well."

"Sure," Raven said in her 'I don't really care' voice. Weaver shot his hooks at the ground below his feet and launched himself to the other building; grappling the large satellite dish, he swung around and came face to face with the girl. She had a costume much like Catwoman's, but with pink lightning bolts in places, wider ears, and no sleeves.

"Heya, cutie. What are you doing around here?" she asked, playing the same flirty game Catwoman did.

"Arresting you."

"Ooh, handcuffs. I didn't bring my whip."

"You aren't gonna need one." She traced a finger down his jawline. The other Titans watched on.

"You're so boring. You need to learn how to play rough." She extended her claws and slashed his stomach, flipping away from him. Cyborg shot at her, but she jumped behind the satellite dish. Starfire chased after her, spraying the area with starbolts. She artfully jumped and flipped between them, only stopping when she had to climb up a wall to a higher area. Raven collapsed the floor under her, but she leapt to another, clinging to the roof as if she didn't care at all.

"Is that all you got? I need to nap soon." Beast Boy turned into a lion and roared in her face, blowing her cat ears back.

"Well, meow to you too!" She slashed his nose and the changeling tried to pounce on her, but she rolled out of the way, coming up on her hands and knees.

"Come on, this is purrfect."

"This is why I hate Catwoman and her sidekick. All the annoying cat puns," Cyborg said angrily as he shot at her. He missed and hit Beast Boy, sending him into a wall. Weaver had recovered and fired his grappling hooks at her; they twisted around her abdomen and pulled her in. He kept her at a safe distance, but held her in place.

"Got her!" The team gathered around, Beast Boy rubbing the scratch on his nose. Weaver felt a finger on his collarbone and turned to find Catwoman standing behind him.

"Now that's no way to treat a girl. And here I was, hoping that you could all be friends." Unlike Catgirl, her suit was full black latex, very form fitting and revealing. Raven grabbed a set of pipes from the rooftop adjacent to them, still under construction, and slammed them down around Catwoman. She appeared perched on top of them a moment later, licking her claws.

"Come on, now." She yanked her whip off of her belt and hit Weaver with it, forcing him to drop Catgirl. The two ran off, prompting the Titans to chase them rooftop to rooftop. Catwoman and Catgirl were faster than them, and they were nearly gone.

"Raven! Throw me!" Weaver yelled. She did as he said, grabbing him with energy and flinging him as far as she could towards the thieves. He grappled onto a building and swung around, landing right in front of Catwoman.

"You aren't getting away."

"Or am I?" She dropped off of the edge of the building, leaving Catgirl behind. He looked over the edge and couldn't find her; turning to the younger one, he noticed she was more nervous looking now.

"Just you and me. Ready to give up?"

"Not quite." She turned to run, but a black figure dropped down from above and landed directly on her. It turned it's head, revealing none other than Red X.

"What happened to not playing the hero?"

"I'm not. She screwed up my cape. And we have some unfinished business." She looked at him expectantly.

"Such as?" she asked, somewhat timidly but excited at the same time.

"We'll deal with that later." He zip-tied her arms together and pressed a button on his belt; they vanished together.

"I really want that belt," Weaver said to himself, kicking a brick off of the building.

"Punk is REALLY makin' me mad. I'm gonna whoop his ass."

"We'll catch him, Cy. Don't worry about it. Everybody slips up," Beast Boy reminded him.

"Not X," Weaver said, having taken a seat on the edge of the building. His leg was dangling over the edge, the other pulled to his chest.

"What do you mean, Weaver?" Raven asked, her eyes showing concern.

"I know him. He doesn't screw up."

"What do you mean, you know him?" Cyborg asked, his eyes narrowing. Raven put a hand on his chest, keeping him from stepping forward to question him.

"Leave it, Cyborg. I'll take care of it later."

"Fine. But I want answers. Can't have any secrets yet. You haven't earned that." He turned and walked away; Beast Boy and Starfire looked back for a moment before deciding to follow him back to the Tower. Raven sat down next to Nightweaver and they waited for several minutes until everybody was gone.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think he was my old partner."

"You had a partner?"

"Yeah. We met online. I only ever knew him as Moscow. He refused to tell me his real name. But he acted a lot like that, with the nicknames and never taking anything seriously. And Moscow never, ever, not once, screwed up. He was a professional at ten. We had a lot in common. We were orphans and had no idea what to do in the world, so we started stealing. He was robbing museums when I was sneaking into gas stations and nabbing money from the registers."

"So, what did he look like?"

"I never got a good look at his face. For three years I knew him, and I never saw his full face. He always had a mask or something on when we met. We never stuck together for longer than the job required. He'd find me if he needed anything."

"So he didn't trust you."

"And look at us now. He didn't screw up back then, either. He's a genius."

"Why'd you stop working together?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It could help us."

"It won't."

"Then tell me for me."

"He tried to get me killed, alright? I don't want to talk about it. But I've got a score to settle with him, if it is him." He got up and walked away. Raven followed him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"We're gonna catch him. He doesn't have to screw up for us to catch him." He turned, a vicious look in his eyes.

"We aren't catching him." He turned back and shot his grappling hooks to another skyscraper, flinging himself through the skyline and leaving Raven alone and worried.


	13. Chapter 13 Tunnel Vision

Weaver landed several buildings away, slamming into the roof and rolling to a stop. The others would probably be getting to the Tower and sleeping. He couldn't sleep.

He had somebody to hunt down.

Standing back up and firing his hooks again, he swung to another building and lowered himself to ground level. He landed in an alleyway and searched his surroundings; he knew the area well. Bending over, he brushed some trash away, and found what he looking for; a hidden manhole, an entrance into the sewers. Moscow's old hideout. He dropped into the dirty tunnels below and pulled the manhole cover back into place.

He moved along for longer than he intended; Weaver knew that he'd made several wrong turns, but the all-too-familiar ray of light extending from a hole in a service door told him otherwise. He peered into it, searching for his prey. He saw nobody inside, but it was obviously well kept. From what he could see, everything had been upgraded; top of the line computers, refurbished furniture, a large television. Red X lived well.

Weaver pulled on the handle; surprisingly enough, it was unlocked. He opened it slowly and slipped in as quietly as he could, lowering into a half-crouch, and creeping along. He heard talking coming from one of the other rooms. He had no idea whatsoever as to what room it was; four or so years had passed since Simon had last been in here, and he wasn't sure what had changed since then. Moving towards it, he saw a door, pushed closed but not all the way into position. He tapped it forwards and listened.

"You know you saved me there, right?"

"I almost got you caught, babe. I had to."

"The Cat's gonna be real mad at me later."

"Well how about I make this cat feel a little better?" He heard the two kiss; already knowing who was behind the door, he kicked it open. Catgirl yanked her mask back on, and Red X pulled his back down over his mouth.

"You little _shitstain!_" He grabbed the couch they had been sitting on and flipped it, pinning X. He grabbed him by the waist and yanked his belt off, keeping him from teleporting.

"Hey, man, I don't know how you feel but I do _not_ roll that way!"

"Well you better get used to it in prison. Be glad they didn't catch you earlier, Moscow. They'd have killed you for what you did to me."

"Berlin?" X asked, confused.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Catgirl asked, even more confused. She'd even dropped her annoying gimmick.

"This bastard tried to-"

"Shut up, Weaver! You don't have any clue what was going on!"

"I know exactly what happened. You screwed me over, and then did it again just to show me that you could. You're a scumbag, and you're going where scumbags go."

"Hell no!" Red X got his legs out from under the couch and kicked Weaver in the knee, knocking him slightly off balance. The thief rushed out of the room, leaving his girlfriend for dead.

"Get out of here and I won't have to arrest you. I'm here for him, not you." She nodded and smiled.

"Thanks. Really."

"Go." She did as he said and left; he rushed through the sewers after X, following the splashing of his footsteps. He came to a long, straight tunnel, and saw him sprinting down.

"GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD!" he yelled, chasing him down. He grabbed the dividing sections of the pipes and threw himself along, shrinking the distance between them each time. X turned and looked straight at him as Weaver kicked him in the face, landing on top of him. He punched him in the solar plexus and grabbed his rival's head, smashing his forehead into X's as he tried to hold him back with one hand.

"You're gonna pay."

"Not if you don't pay attention." Weaver looked at X's free hand and saw his belt in it.

"NO!" He clicked the button and vanished out from under him. Weaver's heart sank, and he smashed his fist into the ground in frustration.

After several minutes of venting his anger on X's hideout, he exited through the manhole that he entered. He walked onto the street, checking up and down before moving towards Titan's Tower. He walked there, instead of calling for a ride or using his grappling hooks to swing there. He approached the shore, looking at the massive building in the middle of the bay. Weaver stared, entirely jaded by his failure.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and spun around, ready to fight. Catgirl was standing behind him, her hands up.

"I'm not here to fight. I'm here to say thanks."

"You already did. I don't want to talk right now."

"I know you don't, but I need help."

"What do you mean?"

"Catwoman disowned me. Said that I shouldn't have been in a situation like that. She can be such a bitch sometimes."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Maybe you could get me the same kind of gig you've got with the Titans?"

"Not my call. I'm already on a short rope. Go talk to somebody else."

"Please?"

"I told you. Not my call. I don't want to talk. PLEASE, leave me alone."

"We don't have to talk." She hit the button on his wrist that opened up his mask; he glared at her, and he planted a kiss on his lips.

"That doesn't work on me. Find some other puppet." He walked away, brushing her attempt to follow him off. He was angry enough already, and didn't need her drama adding to it.

Unbeknownst to him, it already had. Raven had been reading in the common room when she saw movement on the shoreline and decided to look at who it was. He recognized Weaver from the bulges on his wrists and the slimness of his chest. She didn't recognize the girl that was with him; she followed him to the shore, watched him for a moment, then touched him. She watched the two talking for a moment before they kissed and parted ways.

She felt her emotions let loose, and tried her best to control them. She heard a plate in a cabinet shatter, but otherwise managed to keep it under her control. She went to her room immediately and meditated; she did nothing else for the next four hours, trying to control herself.

Weaver stalked into the main room of the Tower and wasn't surprised to find it empty. He settled down on the couch, removing his armor, save for his mask, and closed his eyes. After sitting like that for over an hour, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

He couldn't sleep. He'd screwed up, and X had gotten away again. Catgirl was trying to be a Titan, and without them, she'd be in the same position he had been in less than a month ago. Could he sit back while somebody else was forced to do what he had to do for so long?

_I don't even have my own room yet. I can't go and ask for somebody else to join. Then again, that would bring us to a total of seven people, and we may be able to get Moscow then. He needs to pay. He needs to be punished._

_ Then again, that's a pretty villainous thing to say. Have I really become that cold hearted?_

_ He tried to kill me. Revenge isn't cold hearted, it's a logical response to an action._

_It's an illegal response,_

_To an illegal action. _He shook his head, trying to clear it, and sat up. He buried his head in his hands, his mind a swamp of confusion and indecisiveness. He heard something break in another room, and decided to check it out.

Weaver stood and walked down the hallway towards Robin's office first; he could still be awake. He opened the door to find the Boy Wonder snoozing on his desk. He closed the door and continued on, checking inside of BB's room. The changeling was only halfway on top of his bed, one leg and one arm slumped over the side.

Cyborg didn't need checking on. His room was so meticulously clean that nothing could have possibly fallen without him knowing about it. Starfire's room was fairly barren, save for her bed and a few decorations that were so heavy that they would have broken half the Tower if the fell.

That left Raven. He cracked her door open, peeking in through the slit.

Raven was sitting on the ground, meditating. Her face was riddled with anger and sadness, and when he looked closer, Weaver noticed that she was actually ever so slightly floating. He spotted a mirror on the far side of the room that had fallen and shattered; that must have been what he heard. He opened the door more and approached her, kneeling down and putting a hand on her shoulder. Raven cocked one eye open and stared at him.

"What do you want?"

"To see if you're okay. You don't usually meditate this late, and-"

"I'm fine. Get out."

"Raven, seriously. I'm here for you."

"Be there for your girlfriend. I don't need you."

"What are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend."

"Nevermind. Just go away."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"The only thing that's wrong here is you. Get. Out."

"No." She closed her eyes and reopened them, now fully white. Weaver felt black tendrils of dark energy wrap around him; they slammed him into the wall, and Raven stood and approached him.

"If you don't get out, I'm going to send you to another dimension. One that you'll despise."

"What, is it gonna be filled with ponies?"

"Probably. And I'm never letting you out."

"Why?"

"Because you should have told me."

"Told you what?!"

"That there was somebody else."

"There isn't anybody else! What are you talking about?!"

"The girl that kissed you before you came in. I saw."

"Oh my god..." He slumped his head down, his cheeks flushing. "That was Catgirl. And she kissed me. I didn't kiss her. I told her to go away."

"Don't lie to me. I know she's a hottie. And you aren't stupid enough to turn her down."

"Yeah, well apparently I am. Because I did. Want the truth? You can feel my emotions. You could tell if I was lying."

"I can't right now."

"Why not?"

"My powers don't work too well under emotional stress."

"You can't feel anything from me right now?"

"No." The tendrils released him and he dropped to the floor.

"Rae, I'd never lie to you. You know that. You know me. You're the only friend I've got, and I can't ask for anybody better." He tried to hug her, but she pushed his arms away; after looking at her pleadingly for a moment, she let him, and they stayed like that for as long as they could before it got awkward.

"So you really turned her down?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Well, for a number of reasons, really."

"Such as?"

"I don't have much of an interest in her."

"Despite the fact that she's pretty and obviously wants to have sex with you."

"Don't remind me."

"Thanks."

"What?"

"For turning her down. Thanks."

"Uhhh... you're welcome? For what reason, exactly?"

"I'm just glad that you did."

"Alrighty, then."

"This is getting awkward, isn't it?"

"Very. I'm gonna go back to sleep now."

"Sorry if you couldn't before. That was probably my fault."

"It's fine," he said as he walked to the door. "Night, Rae."

"Night, Simon."

Weaver woke up to an early sun. Usually when he woke up and the sun was in his face, he was blinded and took cover like a vampire, but today, things felt right. He sat up and stretched, releasing the tension from another night spent on the Titan's lumpy couch.

"Morning, sleeping beauty." He turned to see Raven leaning on the counter, a cup of tea in her hands.

"How long have you been standing there watching me?"

"I wasn't watching you, I was watching the city."

"Aren't you all bright eyed and bushy tailed today. You aren't acting like... Well, you."

"I'm not in a bad mood today."

"So you're always in a bad mood?"

"Given my circumstances, I think I'm allowed to."

"True enough. Robin awake yet?"

"Five thirty, on the dot, every day. He's downstairs beating the tar out of some androids."

"Sounds like he's having fun." The door opened behind them, and they both turned to see who was awake. Nobody else in the tower got up before eight.

"Good morning, Titans." Slade strolled out into the center of their common room as if there was no danger. Raven and Weaver stared, wide-eyed at his confidence. He settled down on the couch and looked back at them.

"Slade? Why are you here?" Weaver asked.

"You'll learn soon enough." Weaver slipped his thumb into his pocket, finding his communicator and paging Robin. Hopefully he'd show up in time.

"When is 'soon enough', exactly?" Raven asked, seemingly understanding Weaver's plan to stall him.

"Whenever I decide the time is right. You see, I don't plan on fighting you; not now, maybe not for a few months, in fact."

"But you are gathering information on our habits and planting seeds of doubt among us about the security," Weaver stated, doing his best to outthink the mastermind.

"Good, good. You seem capable of some kind of common sense. Now it's time for you to try to figure out why. Why would I sit here calmly and have a conversation with you when we both know full well that I could snap you in half with one arm tied behind my back?"

"Because you're dead," Raven interrupted before Nightweaver could say anything. Tendrils sprouted from the ground and grabbed Slade, tearing him to bits. He dissolved and evaporated, leaving no trace.

"So is he really dead this time?" Weaver asked, never certain about Slade's intentions.

"Maybe. I have no way of knowing." Robin burst into the room, out of breath.

"Where were you guys?! Slade's down in the gym!"

"Slade's not here, Robin. It's a ghost. We saw one too. That's why I paged you." Weaver noticed claw marks on Robin's shoulder.

"Who did that?" he asked, pointing to it.

"Catgirl. I thought she was the reason you paged me. She was trying to break in."

"Girl doesn't know when to give up."

"No, no I don't," she said, strolling in with Robin's handcuffs on the tip of her finger. She stood on the opposite side of the room of the others, casually leaning on a wall.

"You know, Robin, you're a nice guy and all, but you just aren't my type. I hope you understand."

"Catgirl, please. Just go away. I don't want to fight you," Weaver pleaded.

"I know you don't, handsome."

"Have you SEEN my face? I have more scars than Rocky."

"I like a tough guy."

"THIS is the girl I was up all night about?" Raven said to herself, huffing and turning around.

"Somebody's jealous."

"You've got nothing, Catgirl. Just get out of here. If you want into the Titans, there are other ways than breaking in to do it."

"She wants into the Titans?" Robin and Raven asked at the same time.

"Yeah, I do. You guys don't know how sweet you've got it over here. There's a reason Catwoman and I ditched Gotham, and it wasn't the Bat. Actually, she seems to miss him."

"We'll think about it. But for now, you need to go," Robin said firmly, putting emphasis on the final words to make it clear.

"Give me one of your fancy communicator thingies. So you can keep in touch."

"So you can sell it for quick money," Raven said, glaring at the other girl.

"Now now, who ever said that?"

"I did. Now get out!" Raven picked her up and walked her all the way to the front door before tossing her out and shutting it in her face. She stalked back to the main room in silence, Weaver and Robin following her like frightened puppies. When she got back into the room, she simply glared outside.

"Rae, you alright?" Weaver asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Fine. Don't worry about me."

"Don't tell me not to worry about you and I won't."

"Just leave her, Weaver. She'll be fine," Robin said, trying to pull Nightweaver off to the side. He obliged and the two stepped into the hall. Robin's voice dropped to a whisper.

"What's going on with you two?"

"I know about as much as you do."

"You seem like you're together."

"As far as I know, we're not."

"She obviously feels something for you. You saw how she acted just when another girl was in the room."

"Catgirl tried to seduce me. That sounds overdramatic. She kissed me, and Raven saw it. She was up most of last night."

"Look, she needs emotional support. Even if you don't feel that way about her, if something comes up, could you just be with her? We can't have her losing her mind over it. She'd be a wreck."

"I understand. You don't have to ask me twice, anyways."

"So you do?"

"Why do you think she fought for me to be in the Titans?"

"True. So if she knows you have feelings for her, and she has feelings for you, what's the problem here?"

"A little thing called awkwardness, and trying to avoid it."

"True, I guess. She's a good girl."

"I know she is."

"And as rocky of a start as we got off to, you're a pretty cool guy. I wouldn't argue if you got together."

"And if you did, I'd have to hurt you," Weaver said, a joking smile across his face. "But you aren't half bad yourself."

"Thanks. So, wanna go beat on some androids?"

"Sure."

A/N

Alright, mailbag time! I haven't gotten five reviews on a single chapter, and I've tried to message each of you and thank you, but I figure I may as well throw you guys a bone, cuz you're awesome like that.

**LadyBookworm18: **Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad that you're enjoying it. I kinda decided to have a large group of villains hit because large conflicts are a favorite of mine, even if I left some people that were mentioned out (I'll be including them soon enough. They haven't been dropped for good.) And probably the reason it doesn't have many reviews is because it has an O/C, and people tend to stay away from them.

**Kay: **I think you fell asleep on your keyboard. It just happened to make an intelligible sentence :P but in all seriousness, thanks. It's great to have your support!

**MysteryAgain: **Thank you for critiquing me. Reviews are silver here, and good critiques are gold. As we discussed, I do try to keep Weaver from being a Mary Sue. If he starts turning into one, please inform me immediately. I will make him jump off of a building.

** 177: **I fully plan to keep this going. I don't have an end in sight for the moment, but I am going to warn you, I _hate _happy endings. Maybe bittersweet, but I hate happy endings. At least not without some kind of a catch.

Too many spoilers. Point in case, there's no end in sight right now. I'll run with this until it starts to get stale, and then I'll probably cut an end to it. The end will not be any time soon, though, so there you go. Happy Birthmas.


	14. Chapter 14 Forgotten

Beast Boy struggled against his restraints, yanking on the hand and leg cuffs that held him into place. Two weeks had passed since their last sighting of Red X; he had disappeared without a trace, much to Weaver's both anger and amusement.

Beast Boy had been attacked while out one night, beaten into unconsciousness. He wasn't exactly sure how long it had been since he had been knocked out. The restraints they had put on him were keeping him from morphing, and his state didn't let him do much of anything. He had thought that he was alone until he heard banging from another door, and Starfire screaming to be let out.

He'd heard nothing from anywhere else, and assumed they were the only two there.

"Star! Calm down. Save your energy. We need to wait for the others. Or for a good opportunity to break out."

"They cannot do this! I will destroy them all!"

"Save your energy. It'll be bad if you're worn out when the rescue comes."

"No!" She resumed pounding on the door, and Beast Boy gave up. He rolled over and fell asleep, hoping that somebody would come soon.

Weaver dodged left and right, narrowly avoiding two oil drums as Raven threw five more back. Monsieur Mallah had attacked a refinery and was holding them off at the end of a long hallway.

"Raven! Make a shield, help me plow through!" She formed a rectangular block in front of them and pushed onwards, batting Mallah's barrels aside. They fought their way to him, but he simply opened a door, walked backwards into it, and closed it. They heard the lock click from the other side.

"Damn it!" Nightweaver yelled, kicking the door. Raven used her magic and pushed him aside, then gathered her power. She blasted the door with everything that she had, yet it stayed shut.

"You're kidding me." She tried to disassemble the lock, but found that it was so simple that all of the parts couldn't be removed to disable it. They heard the click-clacking of heels behind them, and they both turned to see Catgirl happily prancing towards them.

"Lemme help you there. Kitty's got the keys." She extended a claw into the lock and wiggled it around a bit, finally twisting it. The door unlocked with a satisfying click.

"Thanks," Raven said.

"Anything for you, babe," she replied, looking at her oddly.

"I'll pretend you didn't say that."

"Whatever you need to do to sleep at night."

"I'm an insomniac."

"Raven, cool it. Let's go." Weaver flung the door open, putting a hand on each handle and pushing it to the side.

General Immortus was standing on a balcony in the tall room, staring down at the trio. Hundreds of his robot soldiers stood at attention in front of them.

"Titans. Good to see you. You thought that we had been forgotten? This is the endgame! Attack!" Weaver pulled two EMP grenades out and launched them to either side of the battalion. The robots slumped over.

"Oh, did I forget to mention I had those?"

"Did I forget to mention they have this?" Immortus pressed a button on the railing and the robots surged back to life and began shooting. Raven shielded herself with energy, while Weaver launched himself into the center of the robots, flinging his hooks from side to side and batting away androids with the thick cables. Catgirl climbed, jumped and flipped her way higher and higher in the room, evading Immortus's eyes as she did so. She leapt nimbly from platform to platform, scaling the interior of the refinery until she was on a balcony overlooking Immortus's position.

"Lights out, old man!" she yelled as she pounced to him. He sidestepped her, surprisingly agile for his age. Behind him was the Brain, with a taser already extended.

"Foolish. Feline." He scooted forward and hit her with it, knocking Catgirl out with a burst of electricity. Weaver saw it all happen from the ground.

"Catgirl!" he yelled, firing one of his hooks to the balcony and zipping up to it. Immortus punched him as he reached the top; the old man wasn't particularly strong, but the force was enough to knock him off balance as he reached the top. Weaver fell, but grappled back up, and reached the balcony just as Immortus, the Brain, and Mallah were locking the door behind them.

"Damn it!" he yelled, trying to tear the door apart. His claws bent the metal, but couldn't rip the two sides of the door away from each other. Raven levitated to him, bending them both backwards into an opening just large enough for him to go through.

"Go get her. I'll handle things here."

"Thanks, Rae." He dove through and gave chase to the three; Mallah scooped the Brain into his arms and had Immortus climb onto his back and took off, charging down the long hallway that they were in. Weaver shot a claw after him and wrapped it around his waist, pulling himself closer to the gorilla and closer to Catgirl.

Mallah twisted his body left and right, smashing Nightweaver into the walls. He continued pulling himself forward, colliding with him and knocking him over. The Brain rolled further down the hallway, shouting in his robotic voice. General Immortus landed awkwardly on his hip and started to crawl towards the Brain. Mallah got up immediately. Catgirl was stirring, but wasn't awake yet.

Weaver kicked Mallah in the stomach, hoping to force the wind out of him, but the massive animal just swatted him aside.

"I do not have time for you, human! Our plan is nearly complete!" Mallah turned to collect his allies, but came face to face with Cyborg's sonic cannon.

"On the floor, ape boy." Mallah grudgingly complied, laying down and spreading his hands and legs. Robin was handcuffing Immortus.

"Good thing you two showed up. I was about to have a problem."

"No problem. Is she okay?" Robin said, gesturing to Catgirl.

"Just got tased. She'll be fine."

"Alright. Where's Raven?" Right on cue, the half-demon came flying down the hall, literally. She was out of breath and stopped in front of them, catching her breath for a second.

"What's wrong?" Weaver asked.

"Run!" she said, still trying to breathe. He looked behind her and saw the horde of bots and took off, pulling her along behind him. Cyborg slung Catgirl over his shoulder, and the five went charging down the hallway.

After several minutes of running, they came to a stop at a turn. There were doors everywhere, and the hallway extended both ways.

"Looks like we found prison cells," Cyborg stated.

"Beast Boy and Starfire might be here. Raven, Weaver, search the cells. Cyborg and I will watch the entrance and try to wake up Catgirl," Robin said. The two nodded to him and left, running up and down the halls. They heard pounding on a door and went to it; looking through the slit, they saw Starfire's green eyes.

"Star! We'll get you out, hang on!" Weaver reassured. She stopped hitting the door, and Raven pulled the screws out of the hinges. The door fell over harmlessly, and Starfire seemed ecstatic.

"Friends! I am glad to see you! The Brain and his evil allies have captured Beast Boy and I. They have taken our friend somewhere else."

"Beast Boy? Where did they take him?" Raven asked, suddenly concerned.

"I do not know. He could not fight them; he went with them without resisting. I fear that they may have a way to stop his powers."

"They won't have it for like. Raven, Star, let's go!" Weaver took off down the hallway, and the two girls followed him. He found Cyborg, Robin and Catgirl, all fighting a small horde of robots.

"Weaver! Rae! Star! Good, we needed some help!" Raven looked around and saw that the walls were held together with thick bulkheads that could be unscrewed. She tore the screws out and launched the heavy piece of metal down the hallway, crushing hundreds of the robots and revealing the hollow interior of the wall.

"Titans, we need to split up to find Beast Boy. I'll go down the wall and get search the lower decks. Starfire, you should come with me. Raven, Cyborg, you search the upper decks. Weaver and Catgirl, look around the middle decks. He's got to be here somewhere," Robin said, laying out their plan and jumping into the hole in the wall before anybody could protest. Cyborg shot a hole in the ceiling and Raven lifted them both through it, leaving Catgirl and Weaver alone as Starfire descended towards Robin.

"You alright?" he asked her, cocking his head worriedly.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Just a little tingly."

"Tasers do that."

"I've been tased before, you know."

"Can't say that that's surprising."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You seem like the kind of girl who knows how to get into some trouble." She smirked at him.

"And you seem like the kind of guy who wants it." Weaver looked at her for a moment, thinking to himself.

"We don't have time for this. Not right now. Let's get going. When we find Beast Boy, we can mess around."

"Fine," she scoffed, mocking anger but continuing on. They reached a set of elevators at the end of the hallway, and two different pathways to different areas; one they had come from, and one that was unexplored.

"I'll take this floor. You go downstairs, and I'll meet you later."

"Alright. Don't stand me up." Catgirl stepped into the elevator and pressed the button, waving goodbye to him as the doors closed. He turned and started down the hall, sprinting as fast as he could. He soon reached a turn and decided to check down that hall; aside from some security cameras and crates, it was empty.

_Who the hell would make this many halls with no point? There's nothing here. _He continued further on, but stopped as he heard something. It had just started, and it was rhythmic, like somebody pounding on something. Somebody pounding on something wooden.

"Help! Somebody get me out of here!" He ran to the sound, closing in on it as he reached the end of the hall. He came out into the worst situation possible.

A store room, filled with wooden crates.

"Keep pounding! Or yelling! Just make noise!" The kicking doubled in speed and he started working his way towards it, moving to the far side of the room in one of the corners. Looking at the massive stacks of crates, he saw that one was moving in turn with the strikes.

"Alright, stop. I'll get you out of there, man." He grabbed several of the boards and tore them open to reveal something he hadn't expected.

A machine was set up with a piston, smacking the boards. There was a speaker, and some wiring. Clearing it back, he revealed a bomb.

"Shit!" Weaver turned and ran, but the explosive went off; the crates around it shattered and splintered, peppering shards of wood into his back. He fell over and rolled, trying to cover himself and get down before more shrapnel hit him. Weaver felt blood running down his back and reached behind him, feeling several small bits of wood and one large piece buried into it. He fished his communicator out and contacted the other Titans.

"Watch yourself. This place is booby trapped. I just got hit by a bomb. I may need medical attention, I don't know yet." Robin nodded to him over the video feed.

"Star and I encountered a bomb too. My cape can protect us, but the others need to be careful. Good to know that there are more bombs. Thanks." Weaver shut the communicator and stood with much effort, rising from one knee to both feet and starting further down the hallway before the communicator buzzed again. He took it out and opened it. Catgirl appeared on the screen.

"Hey babe, I need a little bit of help. Somebody didn't want to play nice." She looked like she was taking cover behind a concrete block.

"Who?" She stuck the communicator over the block, showing him the situation exactly. Four of Immortus's robots were on heavy machine guns, firing at her position; Mallah was behind them, taking aim at her with a grenade launcher.

"I'll be there in a minute. Don't do anything stupid."

"Didn't plan on it." He shut the communicator and raced as fast as he could to the elevators, his movement slightly impeded by the pain emanating from his wounds. He pried the door of one open and dropped down a floor; he swung onto the floor that Catgirl was on and landed, stumbling instead of rolling. He did the best he could to avoid touching anything with his back, more blood trickling down his spine. He heard the machine gun fire and ran towards it, hoping that nothing bad had happened yet.

Weaver turned the corner and saw Catgirl sitting in the same corner, blood trickling from her calf. He slid into cover next to her and pointed to it.

"You alright?" he asked, trying to come up with a plan at the same time.

"I got grazed. I can move and everything. I'll be fine. What about you? You look like a porcupine."

"I'd really appreciate it if you could pull the big pieces out. They hurt a LOT." He turned and she gently removed three of the largest pieces of wood out; he lightly pressed his back against the block and was glad that there was minimal pain.

He looked around the room and saw that there wasn't much in the room. Mallah was smart; he'd removed most of the cover, forcing them into one area. There would be a kill team coming to get them soon enough.

"We need to move. You said you could still walk?"

"I can do a lot more than walk."

"I think the smartest thing to do here would be a retreat, then bait and switch."

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"There's air vents in here. You could crawl through them and get behind the machine gunners and take them out while they're busy trying to get me."

"What about Mallah? He'll blow you to bits."

"Let me worry about that."

"But I'm worried about _you_."

"I'll worry about me, too."

"If you aren't here when I get back, I'm going to kill them all."

"I'll be fine."

"Promise?"

"Promise." She hugged him, then started to look for the air vent. There was one in the small area that the elevators came in; Weaver wrapped his arm around her and pulled them both there, zipping past the machine guns faster than the robots could aim. He ripped the cover off of the vent and lifted her into it. She disappeared into the ductwork, and Weaver put his back to the wall, listening to the gunfire. He breathed in deeply and exhaled, clearing his mind.

He used his claws to rip two pieces of concrete off of the wall, one in each hook. Leaving the safety of cover and dodging fire at the same time. He spun around and contracted the cables, generating enough torque to fling a slab at the gunners. It hit one, smashing him into the wall and leaving a small crater in the concrete. He spun the other way and threw the other slab, knocking a gun off of it's bipod. The robot drew a pistol and began firing at him; despite not having the intended effect, he was glad there were less bullets flying at him.

Catgirl appeared from the vent above them, kicking it open and coming flying down towards them. She stomped on one and threw herself at the one shooting at Weaver with a pistol. Mallah took his chance and shot a grenade at Weaver, who watched it start flying towards him.

There had already been adrenaline coursing through his system, but now, with death seemingly imminent, time slowed to a crawl. The grenade seemed to fly in slow motion, gliding through the air in no hurry.

Weaver took advantage of his momentary advantage and grabbed the side of the grenade with one of his claws. He used the same flinging trick he did with the concrete and hit directly above Mallah, knocking a piece of rock off of the wall. It landed on his leg and trapped him, too heavy for even the mutated gorilla to lift. He cried out as Catgirl pushed the final robot over the railing, sending it sailing to it's doom. She looked at Weaver, who was out of breath after his adrenaline burst.

"Woo! We won!" she yelled down at him. He grinned and lifted himself up to her one-handedly, observing the aftermath.

"Human! Release me and I will be merciful!" Mallah yelled. Catgirl put a finger to Weaver's lip and stalked over to the gorilla, leaning over him.

"You aren't exactly in a good position to be negotiating, monkey."

"I am a gorilla! You should show respect!"

"Meh. I never liked the French. Sorry, Monsieur." She punted him in the head, knocking him out.

"Beautiful. Truly beautiful."

"No problem, Simon."

"You know my real name?!"

"Well of course. It's just a precaution."

"It doesn't matter. My secret identity doesn't really exist anymore. Nothing to protect or exploit."

"I don't want to exploit anything."

"So what was the point of learning it? And how did you, anyways?"

"You don't know who my daddy is, then."

"How could I?"

"I think it's about time we had a formal greeting." She put her hand forward, and they awkwardly shook hands.

"Kitrina Falcone."

"Simon Weaver. Falcone? Seriously?"

"It's alright. I don't exactly like my dad, or the way he works."

"Wait, who's your dad? There are a lot of Falcones."

"The only one that anybody's ever heard of."

"Carmine fucking Falcone?"

"The one and only."

"You're just a box of surprises, aren't you?"

"You could say so. You aren't exactly normal, either."

"At least I'm predictable. We should probably get going."

"You never want to talk to me. I'm gonna dump you!" she joked.

"We aren't together."

"Not officially. It's just a matter of time, Weaver." She smiled sweetly at him, and he turned and walked away. She caught up to him and trailed just behind his shoulder.

"Seriously. You know you want to."

"There's somebody else. Don't make this a big problem."

"I know there isn't anybody else. You're either playing video games, sleeping, or we're out fighting people. You don't have time for anybody else."

"I didn't say that we were going out. There's somebody else."

"Then who is it?"

"Now THAT is one thing that'll stay between us."

"So she knows. And seeing as there's only three girls in the Tower, and you never leave it, then it has to be one of them. Starfire's with Robin, and if it's not me, then it's Raven." Weaver facepalmed.

"You had to just jump into it, didn't you?"

"Well, tell me about it. What's the situation?"

"I don't even know anymore. We need to find BB. We can take care of it later."

"You're gonna be distracted now that we've already mentioned it. Distractions make accidents, and accidents mean that you're either gonna get hurt or die. We're talking about it, now. What do you know?"

"She at least used to feel something. She's just not willing to jump into it."

"Did she start giving you less attention?"

"Bit by bit, yeah. We talk way less than we used to."

"She probably lost interest."

"I guess. I kinda started to, too."

"So? What now?"

"I don't know." They stopped walking, and Weaver leaned against the wall. He slipped down with his back and sat, his hands on his knees. Catgirl kneeled in front of him and took one of his hands.

"It's alright. Everybody gets lost sometimes. You're a strong person, you'll get through it. I believe in you."

"Believe in me? Believe I can do what?"

"Move on. Survive."

"Maybe."

"You will. Or else I'll hurt her." She pressed the button on his arm and kissed him, then stood and walked away, after giving him a look that asked, _are you coming?_

**A/N: I do have to apologize. I told you guys I'd be updating a lot, but with school and such I've had to slow it down considerably. I'm doing what I can when I can, but this is ultimately a hobby. Some things are going to have to take precedence over it. Serious things, like playing Halo.**

**Point in case, updates may be irregular. I'm not keeping these on a schedule, they get released when they get written. If you have an idea for the story, feel free to PM me and I'll take it into consideration. OC ideas are welcome as well. I'm not pre-planning any of this, these are mostly spur of the moment decisions. So unless I've got some chapters pre-written and I'm ahead, your idea could be thrown into the story.**

**Also, we're almost to 1,000 views. I gotta say, for my first story on here, I can't complain. Here's to Chapter 14 being finished. On to 15!**


	15. Ch 15 Nothing Could Possibly Go Wrong

"Agh! Damn it!" Weaver yelled as Madame Rouge brought a blade across his chest. The Titans had been chasing the Brain and his cronies, minus Mallah, for three weeks. They had Beast Boy captive, chained up inside of a titanium alloy cage that was being carried by a massive robot, designed by the Brain and Immortus in tandem.

Robin kicked the French model in the ribs, but she morphed around his foot and threw him to the ground. She zipped into a corridor, and Raven flew after her.

They'd chased the team into one of their many bases, a very futuristic and technologically advanced underground lair. The walls were bright, eggshell white, with blue lights running up and down in various areas. Cyborg fired at some of Immortus's robots, cutting a swath through his army. Starfire vanished down the hallway Raven had, chasing after Rouge. Robin chased after her, and Cyborg charged into the center of battle. Weaver felt his chest and his hand came back bloody; looking down, he saw the blood staining his shirt and trickling down further. Catgirl looked at him, her face a mask of concern.

"You alright?"

"I'll be fine. Cyborg needs help."

"The big man can handle himself. Seriously. Do you need me to try and patch you up?"

"Raven can do it later."

"Alright. If you pass out in the middle of a fight, it's your own fault."

"I'll be fine. Seriously, stop worrying so much. I can handle myself," Weaver said, a hint of venom creeping into his voice. Kitrina looked hurt.

"I'm just making sure you're gonna be okay. Do you want me to not care? Not give a shit if you live or die?"

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what _did _you mean?"

"I just meant that you're treating me like a baby. I know what I can handle. That's why I don't constantly check on you. If you're in serious trouble, you're either going to ask for help or I'll be able to tell when you need it. I didn't want to hurt you."

"You know, how come we can never have a heart-to-heart anywhere except the center of a big fight?"

"You won't have to worry about that. Weaver, Catgirl, I'm pulling you both out of this fight for now," Robin said, having come back to get them.

"It's no problem. We can settle this later."

"I mean because of your cut. She got deep, Weaver. You're bleeding badly. Get back to the Tower, have Catgirl patch it up. You'll be fine until we can get Raven to heal it for you."

"She could do it now."

"That kind of pain could be debilitating without the adrenaline that went with it. Now, Weaver. Seriously." Catgirl took his hand and tried to lead him off, but he pushed it away and glared at Robin.

"We're gonna have a chat later, got it, Boy Wonder?"

"I don't care. Get out of here." Catgirl grabbed his shoulder and pulled him with a little more force this time, succeeding in turning him and making him walk away. They treaded on in silence for a while, before she finally broke the silence just a ways outside of the base.

"I told you it was bad, Simon."

"Please, don't. I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad. I see where you're coming from, but you need to understand that I worry for a reason."

"It's not even that bad, though."

"Rouge cut almost to the bone. If that's not bad for a slice across the chest, I don't know what is."

"I'm not bleeding that badly."

"Your jacket is just naturally soaked with blood?"

"Yeah. Something like that. Crooked deal with the devil, yada yada." She pulled him to a pillar near the entrance, just outside of Jump itself in the forest, and set him down. She retrieved a small medkit from her utility belt and took his jacket off.

"See all the blood? That's _yours_. Nobody else's." His torso was nearly covered in red, save for some areas where the blood hadn't reached.

"Fine, it's bad. Happy?"

"Quite." She wrapped the wound in gauze and taped it to itself, absorbing a large portion of the blood. She cleaned the rest off of him with a rag and pulled him up.

"You know, you're kinda cute shirtless."

"I could probably say the same to you," he replied, smirking.

"Whaddaya know, the emotionless shell cracks!"

"It was a joke. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"Well you're no fun. At the rate you're going, the only pussy you're seeing is in the mirror every morning," she said, smiling and trying to emphasize that it was playful bashing.

"So do you stop making the annoying cat puns when Catwoman isn't around?"

"That was her gig. I never liked it that much. I like the suit, though."

"I don't think anybody likes it. Not even the Bat."

"Please. Batman wouldn't care if she sang the whole time. He's head over heels for her."

"If you hear her tell it. Batman wouldn't show any emotion if it was the only way to save the world. He's got two modes; angry and angrier."

"So he's like you?"

"I am NOTHING like Batman."

"Yeah, you're right. You're a bit more of a cross between him and Robin. Maybe Green Arrow or the Flash."

"I don't think using superheroes to determine my personality is very accurate."

"You've got a point, I guess. Point is, those two are gonna end up together eventually."

"Yeah. Maybe next time Bane snaps him in half Catwoman can nurse him back to health."

"Do you have something against Batman?"

"No, I just think that if Bane could come up with a single intelligent thought, he'd be screwed."

"True. Come on, let's head back." She helped him up, and the two left for the Tower.

Several hours later, the rest of the Titans team entered the common room to find Weaver and Catgirl both laying down on the couch, watching T.V. She had cuddled up next to him, and he was trying to act as casual as possible. Raven entered the room, grabbed a drink, and immediately disappeared into her room. Starfire and the others talked about what had happened; Beast Boy had been rescued by inches, literally; Robin had been able to grab his fingers as the Brotherhood of Evil made their escape. Cyborg had managed to bend the bars enough for BB to slip through, and he had been saved. Weaver was disappointed that he'd missed the action, but was glad everybody was okay.

"Kitrina?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to go talk to Raven. Clear things up."

"Come back soon." She got up and let him leave, and he went to her room immediately. Raven was sitting on her bed, meditating as usual, with her untouched herbal tea to the side of her.

"Hey, Rae." Her eyes snapped open, and she tried to talk, but her voice caught in her throat. Coughing it out, she finally responded.

"Hey. What do you need?"

"I need to know what's going on between us."

"What do you mean?"

"We've barely spent any time together lately, and we don't talk a whole lot. I thought we were getting really close."

"I... I did too."

"So what are we doing here? Are we together? Are we even friends anymore, Rae?"

"We don't have to just be friends, you know."

"Are you being serious right now?"

"You don't want to...?

"I do. Just surprised." Raven got up, and her door opened behind him. She pushed him out into the hall by his chest, putting his back to the wall. She planted her lips on his, and they kissed for several minutes.

Catgirl was watching from the end of the hall, and her jaw literally dropped at the sight. She hadn't expected that Raven would be the aggressor in the situation, nor did she expect it to happen at all. Weaver cocked one eye open and spotted her at the end of the hall, and his face flushed. All she could do was turn and walk away, feeling her emotions welling up inside of her, and get onto the roof. She buried her head in her hands, watching the sky fade into night.

Weaver ran into the common room; the only person in there was Cyborg, who was cooking. He looked at him for a second, and he just pointed upwards. Weaver rushed out a quick thanks before running for the stairs, taking them two at a time. He reached the roof quickly and opened the door, searching for Catgirl. He found her, sitting behind one of the AC units, staring at the ground.

"Kitrina..."

"It's fine. I understand. Don't worry about it."

"She kissed me. Not the other way around. I had the same conversation with her the day that you kissed me across the bay."

"You don't have to lie to me to make me feel better." He crouched over her and lifted her chin up, staring into her eyes.

"I'm not. Promise. You know, that happening showed me one thing."

"What?"

"I don't enjoy it when it's not you." He leaned in and pecked her on the lips, and her face lit up. She pulled him back in, and the two kissed passionately before finally letting go of each other.

"So, that's it, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think you need to go talk with Raven."

"I can deal with her later." He sat down next to her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. The couple sat there in silence for a long while, taking in what just happened.

Weaver woke up early and immediately went down to the gym. He practiced different combinations of kicks and punches, trying to avoid using his grappling hooks. It had come to his attention that any number of things could happen to them, and he needed to be a capable fighter without them.

Robin came down to the gym, and the two sparred for a while, until Simon was comfortable with his fighting skills. The two sat down and tried to catch their breath.

"I hate days that start slow," Weaver commented. Robin nodded in agreement. They sat there for several minutes before they heard the doorbell go off.

"Nobody uses the doorbell," Robin noted before getting up and running to the door. Weaver got up grudgingly and followed him, chasing the Boy Wonder to the front door. They reached it and it slid open as Robin pressed the button.

A figure in a black and red outfit was standing at the door; the first thing Weaver noticed was that he looked like a futuristic Batman.

"You must be the one that the Bat said he was sending," he said, almost questioningly. The figure nodded.

"This is gonna get pretty confusing, then," he said. Weaver noticed that his mask moved with his mouth.

"Why?"

"If you call Bruce Batman, and I'm Batman, then things are gonna get confusing."

"Batman's name is Bruce?" Robin glared at him, then turned to the newcomer.

"I don't know who you are or why you're here, but it's obvious that you personally know Batman."

"I _am _Batman. From the future. Bru- sorry, this time's Batman, found a time portal and he decided to send me through to train with Robin. Judging by the R on your chest, I assume that's you. You can just call me Terry, I guess. If you need to differentiate. But otherwise, I'm Batman." Terry extended a hand to Weaver, and he shook it; Robin repeated the process.

"So, define _future_. How far into the future, exactly?"

"Forty years, give or take. Batman was getting too old for his title, so I became the new one after some... Unfortunate accidents." He looked away for a moment, and Weaver recognized the gesture. The feeling that people got when they spoke of a dead family member; they'd look away, searching for the eyes that they could feel on them, but nobody was there. He felt a pang of sorrow, but continued on.

"I think it would be fine for you to join up with us for a while," Robin said, breaking the awkward silence that had taken over in the last several seconds. Batman nodded to him and uttered a thank you before continuing inside.

Catgirl appeared from the stairs and practically tackled Weaver, sitting on top of him. She didn't notice Batman until Weaver managed to get his head out from under her shin, pointing towards him. She flashed red for a second before getting up.

"Sorry about that. I'm Catgirl."

"Kitrina?" he asked her.

"How do you...?"

"He's from the future. Lord knows what's all happened


	16. Ch 16 Everything Possible Has Gone Wrong

Weaver dove over a stack of papers, narrowly avoiding a laser shot by one of Immortus's robots. He rolled and stood, flinging a taser at the robot; it hit directly in the neck, short circuiting it and ending their fight. Weaver stood, rising from one knee, observing the smoking metal shell.

Raven had been shot and wounded beforehand; she walked herself out, saying she was too weak to be teleporting. Madam Rouge was nowhere to be found. The Brain and General Immortus had set up a gauntlet of traps, ambushes, and puzzles for the Titans, and so far, they'd passed every one. Weaver had gotten separated from the group by an explosion. Robin absorbed most of the impact, using his cape to protect himself, but Weaver had been thrown through a door that slammed shut and locked itself as he went through. Typical villain. Everything had to be automated.

He proceeded onwards, walking through what appeared to be an office. The building they were in was another underground lair that the Brotherhood occupied. They'd made too much money over the years, and had too many bases to track them all. He pushed a desk aside, and as he did so, heard somebody entering the door on the other side of the room. He lifted a desk out of a cubicle and launched it at the door, crushing a robot's head as it ran through the entryway. Four more soldiers appeared behind it, taking cover and blind firing in an attempt to hit him.

Weaver rolled into a cubicle and tried to come up with a plan. The desks weren't heavy enough to smash through the walls, and nothing else in the area could possibly help him break through. There was a printer, but even then, he'd only have solved half the problem.

He reached into his belt and fumbled for an EMP grenade; he found none.

_What?! I refilled this last night. There were at least six grenades in here. I haven't used any. Somebody must have been messing with my stuff. I don't think Kitrina would have taken any weapons out of my belt. She knows that I use all of them. Nobody else has access to it, though. Somebody's been messing with my stuff without my permission. This isn't gonna end well._

He stood up and threw two foam grenades instead. They clattered around the door frame and exploded, encasing the door and the robotic soldiers in solid foam. Weaver smashed through the layer covering the door, tearing the heads off of two robots and smashing the others into the wall.

_Damn, I'm a badass. _He ducked into a storage closet as more robots came flooding down the hall.

_And now I'm a badass in the closet. That's what you get for getting cocky. _He heard their heavy steps go past the door, and he opened it slowly and ran out. His communicator buzzed, and he hid inside another office and answered it. Catgirl appeared on the screen.

"Hey, you're alright, right?"

"I'm fine. I'm trying to work my way back to you guys. I need to ask you something."

"What?"

"Did you mess with the grenades in my belt?"

"No, I didn't. You have your stuff the way you like it. Why?"

"Somebody took out all of my EMPs. I think we have an enemy in the Tower."

"Nobody messes with you and gets away with it. I'll find them." She hung up, and Weaver laughed to himself at her sudden sense of bravado. He slowly stood from the cubicle and moved over to a window, overlooking what looked like a large storeroom. He saw Immortus and the Brain both standing, as per usual, on a balcony high above the room itself.

"Bastards." He tried to open the window, but realized it had no hinges. There was a loud crash, and he looked down to see the Titans smashing through the door into the main area. They looked up at the duo and both sides were yelling at each other; Immortus snapped a finger, and six massive, hulking robots dropped down from the ceiling, each causing a large explosion when it landed as the dust settled.

_Damn it. Kitrina can't fight these kinds of enemies all too well. They need help. _Weaver backed up to the edge of the room and prepared to charge for the window. Just before he could start running, somebody put their hand on his shoulder. He turned just in time for Madame Rouge to punch him in the gut, knocking him over and gasping for breath.

"Foolish child. You and your friends are doomed."

"Screw... you..." He grabbed her legs and swung them out from under her, sending her headfirst into the wall. She liquified and solidified again, returning to her full height.

"That kiss was beautiful, you know."

"What kiss?" She morphed into Raven and stared at him devilishly.

"The one you gave me yesterday, remember?"

"You bitch!" He kicked high, aiming for her throat, but she grabbed his foot and flipped him; thanks to adrenaline, he managed to get his hands below him and hold himself up as his legs came around again. He kicked with both feet and the momentum of a backflip into her stomach, smashing her against the wall and knocking her out.

"You got what you deserved, hussy." He tossed a pair of foam grenades at her, intending to come back later and retrieve her. He smashed through the window as he had originally intended, grappling to the ceiling and swinging onto the General's balcony. He knocked his ancient knee out from under him, and the old man buckled and fell to the ground. Weaver lifted the Brain high above his head, willing him into the air with his short range telekinesis, and tossed him over the railing. He fell for fifty feet, and gravity betrayed him as his glass-cased brain smashed into the ground first. His brain spilled out onto the floor, his "body" going dim. Immortus struggled to his feet.

Weaver grabbed him by the throat and lifted him over the railing as well.

"Two things. First off, turn off the giants." Immortus laughed.

"Never! Not even in your dreams!"

"I will drop you off of this ledge."

"I'm IMMORTAL, you buffoon. I can't die."

"But you can break your back and be immobile for life."

"Ah, I guess you do have a point." He reached into his jacket pocket and pressed a button; all of the bots deactivated, and Weaver proceeded.

"Where's Raven?"

"Your little girlfriend is in the prison block. She's being transported as we speak."

"Where?"

"Siberia." Weaver tossed Immortus back onto the balcony, and he landed with a crack. The old man grabbed at his hip, and Weaver jumped down to his teammates. He was greeted with a hug from Catgirl the second he landed.

"OhmygodIwassoworried!"

"I. Can. Handle. Myself. If it weren't for me, you'd still be fighting those things." Robin put a hand on her shoulder.

"He's right. Nightweaver's proven that he can hold his own in a fight. There's no need to worry about him like you do."

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to."

"Right. Weaver, what were you talking to him about?"

"Raven. The Raven that was with us these last two days wasn't Raven. It was Rouge." Catgirl looked up at him in shock.

"So you didn't...?"

"No, I didn't."

"Yay!"

"So where's Raven, then?"

"Prison block. We need to move. They're taking her to Siberia right now. We can still catch them."

"Titans, go!" The team charged down the halls of the underground complex, slowly working their way to the prison cells.

Cyborg fired his cannon out of the window; the Titans had caught up to the robot team with Raven as they were getting in their truck and driving away. The beam hit the vehicle in it's tire, but the armor plating on the treads deflected most of the blast and only made them swerve a little bit.

They had all packed into the T-Car; Starfire flew behind them, but Robin, Beast Boy, Nightweaver, Catgirl and Cyborg were all in the vehicle. Star shot some bolts at the truck, but couldn't seem to stop it. Robin was deep in thought, trying to come up with a plan. Weaver cracked his door open, and Cyborg stared at him like he was crazy.

"Boy, you better shut that damn door before I do som-"

"Trust me. Just drive steady." He exited the car and climbed onto the roof, bracing himself against the wind. Their vehicles got closer together, and Weaver shot his grappling hooks at the back; they dug into a thick metal and he pulled himself in, crashing into the back of the car.

"Got it!" he yelled, hoping Cyborg would hear him. The robot driving swerved side to side, swinging Weaver himself off of the truck but not being able to remove his claws. He shifted side to side, feeling each and every pebble in the road on his chest as it was dragged along the road. He pulled himself in again and quickly climbed to the roof of the truck, stomping on the windshield and blocking the driver's view. He gripped the front end of the car and jumped off of the back; it flipped and landed upside down, skidding to a stop. Robin ran out of the car and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Raven's in there! You could have just killed her!"

"She's fine. Trust me."

"How do you know?"

"She told me." Robin turned to the noise of Raven kicking the back door of the truck open. She was handcuffed and gagged, and Weaver ran to her and pulled the gag out.

"Thanks... Hard to breathe with that thing. How'd you guys find me?"

"Luck. Rouge was impersonating you. We thought you were with us still," Weaver explained.

"Great. Just great."

"It got pretty bad. She was, uhh... Convincing."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll explain later."

"Joy to the world." The team left; Cyborg and Robin drove the car, while Raven teleported the rest. Starfire and Beast Boy left them, and Raven, Catgirl, and Weaver settled down in her room.

"What exactly did you mean by convincing?"

"Well... I came to talk to you and basically she ended up making out with me. And I thought it was you."

"Okay. That does sound a little odd. You didn't suspect it right then?"

"I was coming to ask what our relationship status was. We haven't talked much."

"You know the way it is right now."

"Nothing has changed on your side?"

"No." Catgirl glanced down, and Weaver fidgeted with his jacket.

"What?" Raven asked, sensing their guilt.

"Well... After we "kissed", I went to talk to Catgirl, and she saw it, and she was really depressed... But basically we ended up getting together."

"That's the worst explanation that's ever been told."

"I know. It's awkward. But we're together now."

"Wonderful."

"I'm sorry," Catgirl interrupted, giving Raven a very apologetic look. "I wasn't trying to hurt you in any way."

"I'm not angry at you."

"You're angry at _me_," Weaver interjected.

"Yes."

"It was a crazy series of events. And I'm going to be honest with both of you, I do have feelings for the both of you. But I'm with Kitrina now, and that's just going to have to be the way it is."

"I understand that. I just don't understand how you go from thinking you're making out with me to being in a relationship with somebody else."

"It's a long story."

"We've got time."

"It's an awkward story I'd rather not tell."

"I could just read it in your mind. We share a bond, remember? Because I _saved your life_. I know things about you nobody could ever know. Things not even she knows, not even you know."

"I know you did. I'm forever grateful for that. I feel bad about this. I really do. I'm sorry, Rae."

"You don't get to call me that anymore." Her words struck deep inside him; to anybody else, that would have just been a normal Raven thing, but between them it was different. That nickname was how he knew he'd gained her trust and friendship. She'd just taken it away.

"I'm sorry. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

"No, there isn't. Now please, both of you, get out." Weaver got up and let Kitrina leave the room, and went to follow, but stopped and looked back at Raven.

"I'm sorry." He continued out of the door, following Catgirl; she went to the roof and sat down on the edge, her feet dangling. He took a seat next to her, and they both laid down on the roof.

"So that just happened," she said, trying not to make it awkward.

"I feel like shit right now."

"I know you do. I'm sorry."

"What?"

"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in this mess at all."

"It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself for it. What else were we supposed to do, given the situation?"

"You're right. I guess I just feel bad about it, too."

"She'll get over it. She's strong, I believe in her."

"And now that's gone full circle."

"I guess it has. It would probably be nice if we invited her out to do some stuff next time we have free time."

"It's Raven, Simon. She wouldn't want to go anywhere that the sun's visible and where there's a color lighter than blood red."

"I know a place."


	17. Chapter 17 Flawed Justice

Weaver smacked a thug across his face with a fully open palm, leaving a red mark across his face. The Titans had interrupted a high-level theft, back in the museum that Nightweaver had originally faced the Titans in. There were scores of thieves, at least thirty, and they had their hands full.

He leaned down and kicked backwards and to the side, hitting one of them in the face, while also reaching with his free hand and tearing an assault rifle out of another's hands. He ducked low and swept his legs out from under him, dropping the two of them within seconds of each other. A third tried to hit him over the head with a chair, but he slid between the man's legs and punched him hard in the kidney. He dropped to one knee and Weaver drove his elbow into the back of his head, knocking him out. He saw Starfire across the hall, punching one of the men in the gut hard. He walked towards her, finished with his group.

"Need any help?" he asked casually as she threw another man into the wall. He left a small indentation, and she turned and smiled to him.

"No, but thank you much, friend!" She zipped away, probably in search of Robin. He strolled through the hallways; most of the fighting was done. There may have been a lot of thugs, but they had been dispatched relatively quickly.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and spun around, grabbing the person's arm and twisting it half around their back before he realized it was Kitrina.

"Do NOT sneak up on me like that!" She laughed at him and turned, trying to cover her mouth and barely succeeding.

"You are _way_ too jumpy! One of these times you're gonna hit me, and then there's gonna be problems," she said, leaving him unsure whether or not she was joking.

"I'm not going to hit you if you don't sneak up on me."

"I'll sneak up on you whenever I like." They walked slowly to the lobby of the museum, meeting up with the other Titans. Robin stood in the center of all of them, a cocky smile on his face.

"Good job, guys. All criminals are down. The police are outside, they'll cuff everybody up. Time to go home." They exited the building, and Weaver saw that Robin hadn't been kidding; there was a blockade of police cars sitting outside, lights flashing and guns trained on the door. One of the officers, probably a rookie, panicked and fired. The only reason the bullet didn't go deep into Cyborg's metal chest was because Raven deflected it with a wave of energy.

"If you shoot again, you won't have a gun," she threatened, walking on away from the group. Weaver looked on at her, feeling bad for her recent behavior; she never spoke to anybody, she didn't team up with anybody, and she didn't even eat with them. He decided to try and approach her. He looked at Catgirl, who got the message and waved him on.

He took several steps past her and was about to pass the barricade when a gloved hand stopped him. Looking around, he saw that two police officers behind him had their rifles trained on him.

"We're going to have to take you in, sir."

"What? Why?"

"Four unsolved murder cases. A bill was passed recently that requires us to detain and investigate anybody involved in situations like this."

"So what's going to happen, exactly?"

"You'll spend a little while in prison while we check the circumstances and such. If everything is proven to be unintentional, then you'll only spend a few months in prison."

"Months?!"

"Four unsolved murders. You're lucky it's that low."

"Fine." Weaver stepped into the squad car, ignoring their requests to handcuff him. He was seated next to one of the thugs he'd just beaten, handcuffed and angry.

"Oh, ain't this beautiful. We're gonna have a fun time, pretty boy."

"You might want to watch your mouth. I don't need gadgets to whoop your ass."

"We'll see." They drove off without a word until Weaver's communicator buzzed. Kitrina was on the other end.

"What the hell are they taking you away for?"

"Some accidents I made before I joined up. I'll be back soon, baby. I promise."

"You better be, or I'm gonna hurt somebody."

"I promise. I'll find a way." He shut the communicator, not wanting to feel even more like a disappointment to her. They drove on, reaching the high security complex within several minutes. He was yanked forcefully out of the car and hit in the back of the head with a baton.

"Ah! What the fuck?!"

"You declined handcuffs."

"That's police brutality, you shitstain!"

"Sir, please don't disrespect officers of the law."

"We're gonna have fun here. We're gonna have a _lot _of fun." He was ushered into the check in and thrown into a room alone. A voice on the intercom spoke to him.

"Please remove all body armor and weaponry."

"The mask stays."

"I'm afraid we can't allow that. You could have a weapon stored in it."

"You want to check it yourself?"

"We can't give you any special treatment. We've done enough."

"Right." He took his armor off, peeling his greaves off and revealing the tattered jeans under them. He regretfully pulled the mask off of his face, feeling the cold air hit his face and hated every second of it. In a few minutes, he had been changed into a prison jumpsuit.

"What now?"

"You'll be assigned a cell. Looks like you've got a cell with the head honcho."

"Who?"

"You'll see."

"Oh, great. I _love_ surprises." He opened the door and moved past the line, and was intercepted by a guard.

"I'm the one that was on the speaker. You're in cell 48, with prisoner 117B." He followed the guard silently and they reached his cell. He looked in and saw his cellmate, laying on his bed and his face masked by shadow.

"Your new cellmate. Roman Sionis, the Black Mask." He heard Roman laugh, and the guard gently pushed Weaver inside and closed the door on him.

"You're my cellmate? Seriously?"

"Yes, yes I am. And to think, all I had to do was ask."

"You're the reason I'm in here, aren't you?"

"Of course. I had Two-Face pull some strings, since he didn't help that much when you were beating me down. You're stuck in here for the next month with me. I guarantee you won't survive."

"Then let's settle this, right now. You and me."

"What are you, _stupid?_ I'd never fight you when you were asking for it. There's no fun in that."

"You're just afraid of me in a fair fight."

"I'm the goddamn Black Mask. Nothing about any of my fights is fair."

"Then it just makes it that much worse that I'd still beat you."

"You don't know who you're messing with, kid."

"Neither do you." Weaver's communicator buzzed, and he realized that the guard had let him keep it. He silently thanked him and jumped on top of the bunk, flipping it open. There was a message on it, and he figured that Kitrina had had the good sense to realize that he wouldn't have been able to answer. It read,

_"I figured that I could at least try to get something through to you before you go away. Robin did some research. That bill that passed only passed about a week ago, and the person whose name is on it is Richard Proctor. That was one of Harvey Dent's greatest allies before he became Two-Face. Dent's the reason you're in there. We're working on getting it repealed. Hopefully it won't be more than two weeks, but you never know. Be careful in there. If somebody hurts you, I'm going to kill them. I hope you can get this."_ He was instantly glad for the message, despite the fact that he already knew the information. He typed a quick message in, knowing that Roman would smash the communicator if he found it.

_"Can't talk much. Cellmate is Black Mask. He already told me. I won't let anybody hurt me, but I won't be getting out early for good behavior."_ He put it away just as Sionis got up and stared at him. The ebony skull around his face looked even more creepy outside of combat.

"Just know this, punk. You put me in here, I put you in here. You beat me, I'm gonna beat you. But when I kill you, you won't have the opportunity to kill me back." Weaver gave him the finger and turned over in the bed, trying to fall asleep.

He woke up and immediately checked the communicator. Catgirl had set him two messages.

_"I'm glad they let you keep your communicator. Be careful with it. Robin's been talking to the DA's department and is trying to get you released, but he doubts that that'll work. He managed to grab some files that said they'd already investigated your "accidents". By the way, next time you kill somebody, you should probably tell me. But the point is, we're working on it."_

_ "And if you want your cell changed, that's entirely possible. Remember there are other villains in there that want you dead. If I remember correctly, Deadshot's in there too. Be careful. I'll visit later today, hopefully, unless something comes up."_ The bottom of his bunk shook as Black Mask kicked it over and over.

"Seriously? What are you, ten?" He continued, and Weaver leaned over the edge and glared at him. They were about to fight when the guard came along and rattled his baton on the bars.

"Breakfast. Let's go." The bars slid aside and Weaver hopped off of the bunk. He was about to leave before Roman shoved him aside and stepped in front of him, exiting onto the balcony and stretching. Weaver glared at his back before leaving and running downstairs to the mess hall. He ate alone and in relative silence, finishing his meal quickly. He had his back to the wall, which was probably one of the better ideas he had had. Four large men approached him, and one of them cracked his knuckles.

"Just wanted to let you know, the boss isn't gonna let us do what we do best. But you screw with us, we're gonna _screw you up!_" He laughed as they walked away. A thinner man with a thin moustache sat himself across from Weaver.

"Hey. What's your name?"

"Just call me Weaver."

"Like Nightweaver?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. You're on my list." He made a finger gun and pointed it at Weaver, holding it there for several seconds before pretending to pull a trigger.

"Alrighty then."

"So what are you in for?"

"Some stuff I did a long time ago. Some stuff I regret."

"Aren't you like, seventeen? Shouldn't you be in juvy?"

"Murder gets jail."

"You murdered someone?"

"Four someones."

"Wow. Didn't expect that from you."

"Please, Deadshot. You kill for a living." The sniper seemed relatively surprised.

"Well. I didn't expect you to figure me out THAT easily."

"It's the 'stache."

"_Really?_ I never would have thought..."

"Look, I know you want out of here, and I do too. We can work together."

"And go against the Black Mask? Everybody knows that he's got dibs on your skull."

"That's not going to end well for him. We could both get out of here."

"How?"

"I have some powers myself, I just don't use them much in combat. I might be able to bust out of here. I need to know I can trust you, first."

"That's the thing. You can't. You need to know I won't tell anybody, not even about that little communicator you seem to think you're hiding."

"It's been in my pocket this whole time. No way you knew about it."

"I watched you in your cell. Thankfully for you, I'm the only one who can see your cell from the outside."

"The Titans are working on busting me out. If we can't get out by then, you're on your own."

"How long?"

"A few weeks."

"I might be able to get you out. You'd have to bust open and crawl through a sewer main."

"Isn't that a little bit too much like _Shawshank?_"

"Who cares? It's an escape."

"Alright. I'll do it."

"Take laundry duty on Thursday. We can get out then." They shook hands and Deadshot got up and walked away. Breakfast ended in a few minutes, and Weaver went back to his cell. Black Mask didn't show up, and he asked a passing guard why not.

"Said he needed to be in solitary or he'd do something he'd regret. He's really starting to turn around." Weaver rolled his eyes and muttered something in denial of that, then crawled back into his bed. He retrieved his communicator and just before he began typing, he saw Deadshot across the way, staring straight at him. He used his finger gun on him again, then resumed talking to his cellmate. Weaver began to type quickly and sent the message quickly.

_"Deadshot and I are in some kind of uneasy alliance. I'm not sure what kind of game Sionis is playing, but it's not a good one. When are you going to be here?" _He got a reply almost instantly.

_"We're about five minutes away. Probably half an hour to get through all of the checks. We can talk about it then."_

_ "We?"_

_ "Raven wanted to come along. After we got home last night she came to me and we had a really long talk. We should probably discuss some of it."_

_ "Alright. I hope everything's okay." _He shut the communicator and waited.

Nearly an hour later, a guard came by and grabbed him from his cell, walking him to the visitor area. Kitrina and Raven were both sitting at one of the cheap, plastic white tables.

"Never thought I'd see you in a jumpsuit," Raven commented.

"Never thought I'd be in one. How are things going out there?"

"Like Catgirl said, we're working on getting that bill repealed. Black Mask played a dirty trick there."

"Thanks, guys. Really. I know I probably should just do my time, but this isn't right. Not like this."

"You don't need to do any time. You're a good guy. You've been taking criminals off the streets for months with these guys, that has to count for SOMETHING," Kitrina protested.

"It does. There was a bill passed that said that villains truly defecting to the other side would be allowed to go free if it led to the arrest or defeat of other villains. Weaver's has. He's put a lot of guys behind bars."

"Indeed, it has." Weaver turned to see Black Mask with a knife behind him; he grabbed Weaver and put the knife to his throat, right over where Slade's blade had once been.

"Anybody moves and he dies! That goes for the guards too! I get hit by anything and he's losing his life!" Everybody froze and stared at Roman Sionis and his captive.

"I want out of here, and I want out now. Open the door and let me walk right out of here, or else he dies."

"You know we can't do that, Sionis. Let him go," one of the guards said very calmly.

"Do it or he dies!" Weaver willed for Black Mask to crumple to the ground, and an invisible force pushed him down and away from him. He elbowed the villain and disarmed him, grabbing him by the throat and smashing him into the ground. Catgirl got up and hugged him, squeezing hard.

"Why do you always scare me?"

"Why are you always scared about me?"

"Because I care." Raven scoffed.

"Take care of your lubby-dubby crap some other time. Weaver, we're going to get you out of here. I don't know when, but we will soon."

"I hope you do. I'm worried about what I might do to my friend Roman here if you don't."

**A/N: Hello, World! Programming nostalgia aside, I must again apologize for the amount of time it's taking me to post chapters. I'm putting them out as I can write them. I'm in a bit of a pinch for time, so it's not always easy to find time to write. I'm doing what I can, I promise. At the time of this posting, we're only about fifteen down from 1,000 views. I swear, if it gets stuck at 999...**


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